[email protected]

KIDS SPEND AS MUCH TIME WITH TV,
COMPUTERS & VIDEO GAMES
AS PLAYING OUTSIDE

Even the very youngest children in America are growing up immersed in
media, spending hours a day watching TV and videos, using computers
and playing video games, according to a new study released today by the
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Children six and under spend an average of two hours a day using screen
media, about the same amount of time they spend playing outside, and well over the
amount they spend reading or being read to.

Key findings include: One in four children under two have a TV in their
bedroom; Children in "heavy" TV households are less likely to read; Parents believe
in educational value of TV and computers. "It's not just teenagers who are
wired up and tuned in, its babies in diapers as well," said Vicky Rideout, the
lead author of the study.

"So much new media is being targeted at infants and toddlers, it's critical
that
we learn more about the impact it's having on child development."

http://www.kff.org/content/2003/20031028/

(blurb source - PEN Weekly NewsBlast)

Shyrley

jrossedd@... wrote:

>KIDS SPEND AS MUCH TIME WITH TV,
>COMPUTERS & VIDEO GAMES
>AS PLAYING OUTSIDE
>
>Even the very youngest children in America are growing up immersed in
>media, spending hours a day watching TV and videos, using computers
>and playing video games, according to a new study released today by the
>Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
>
>Children six and under spend an average of two hours a day using screen
>media, about the same amount of time they spend playing outside, and well over the
>amount they spend reading or being read to.
>
>Key findings include: One in four children under two have a TV in their
>bedroom; Children in "heavy" TV households are less likely to read; Parents believe
>in educational value of TV and computers. "It's not just teenagers who are
>wired up and tuned in, its babies in diapers as well," said Vicky Rideout, the
>lead author of the study.
>
>
>
Who are all these rich people who can afford an extra TV to stick in a
child's bedroom. 99% of people I know have just the one TV.
S

Betsy

**Who are all these rich people who can afford an extra TV to stick in a
child's bedroom. 99% of people I know have just the one TV.**

I thought maybe the study was misleading because some children in the
age group studied sleep in their parents' bedroom. And, of course, lots
of kids share bedrooms with siblings, who might be older.

Lots of middle sized kids (in the US) end up with the old TVs in their
bedrooms, but I *do* have a hard time imagining someone who would buy a
bedroom TV for their toddler. My 9 year old has our 20 year old set in
his bedroom to use as a Nintendo screen. It isn't hooked up to receive
any channels. I don't know how this would be reported on a survey.

Are TVs cheaper in the US? In the UK do you pay special taxes on the TV
set?

Betsy

v_malott

--- In [email protected], Shyrley <shyrley@e...>
wrote:
> >One in four children under two have a TV in their
> >bedroom
> Who are all these rich people who can afford an extra TV to stick
in a child's bedroom.

In our case, our two youngest 2.5 and 11 months have a TV in their
bedroom. But, then they share that bedroom with us as we family bed!
LOL!

And I've yet to see any of *my* children sit for more than 5 minutes
at a time when they are under 4 to watch ANY kind of TV programming,
including their favorite videos.

What-EVERRRR...

Valerie--peaking in from lurkdom, just couldn't resist

[email protected]

In a message dated 10/31/03 10:18:30 AM, jrossedd@... writes:

<< Children in "heavy" TV households are less likely to read; >>

OH! The woman I saw on TV cited that but in a better-than-average move she
said that's not necessarily causation.


ABSOLUTELY in my experience as a kid those my age who were not readers THEN
and therefor watched more TV. I used to turn the TV off to go read. Friends
of mine who weren't good at reading or who had had all the reading they could
stand in school still wanted input, but many of them preferred visual or
auditory input.

People who believe what Howard Gardner has written about multiple
intelligences will remember that not everyone prefers verbal input (written or aural).
Not everyone thinks primarily in words.

To say kids who watch TV don't read could just as easily and more sensibly be
switched to kids who don't like to read do like to watch TV. A person who's
reading a book is less likely to be watching TV. That does NOT mean that a
person who turns off a tv is going to pick up a book any more than she's likely
to ride a bike or take a shower or paint a picture.


Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 10/31/03 11:47:31 AM, ecsamhill@... writes:

<< **Who are all these rich people who can afford an extra TV to stick in a
child's bedroom. 99% of people I know have just the one TV.** >>

We have one we bought used twelve years ago from an co-worker of Keith's who
was leaving the state. It's been repaired twice in the past year. We will
need to buy a new one.

When Keith was living in MN, he bought a small one with VCR built in.
That's in our bedroom. Holly has one we inherited from an elderly neighbor. She
had it in the nursing home. Marty's was given to us by someone who cleared out
a rental storage. Kirby's... We bought it but I don't remember when. It's
pretty small.

But nowadays big color TVs with front hookups for video games and such are
$130, $200.

In the UK houses are smaller and a lot of the bedrooms I saw didn't have much
room for a TV. I saw kids have small computers, but I only saw a few
kid-rooms.

Sandra

Sandra

Shyrley

Betsy wrote:

>**Who are all these rich people who can afford an extra TV to stick in a
>child's bedroom. 99% of people I know have just the one TV.**
>
>I thought maybe the study was misleading because some children in the
>age group studied sleep in their parents' bedroom. And, of course, lots
>of kids share bedrooms with siblings, who might be older.
>
>Lots of middle sized kids (in the US) end up with the old TVs in their
>bedrooms, but I *do* have a hard time imagining someone who would buy a
>bedroom TV for their toddler. My 9 year old has our 20 year old set in
>his bedroom to use as a Nintendo screen. It isn't hooked up to receive
>any channels. I don't know how this would be reported on a survey.
>
>Are TVs cheaper in the US? In the UK do you pay special taxes on the TV
>set?
>
>Betsy
>
>
>
TV's are cheaper in the US but still, several hundred dollars for an
extra set!!!
We hafta pay for a TV licence but it covers all sets in the house.

Shyrley

Marjorie Kirk

> >
> >Are TVs cheaper in the US?

We've had several used TVs donated for various charity garage sales and you
can hardly GIVE them away! We even had them plugged in and turned on to
show they work, but no one would buy them. Go figure.

marjorie

kayb85

Dd's 20" tv for her bedroom was around $80, the combo dvd/vcr was
around $100 and we bought a bracket for the wall to put the tv on
that was around 60.

Sheila


> **Who are all these rich people who can afford an extra TV to stick
in a
> child's bedroom. 99% of people I know have just the one TV.**
>
> I thought maybe the study was misleading because some children in
the
> age group studied sleep in their parents' bedroom. And, of course,
lots
> of kids share bedrooms with siblings, who might be older.
>
> Lots of middle sized kids (in the US) end up with the old TVs in
their
> bedrooms, but I *do* have a hard time imagining someone who would
buy a
> bedroom TV for their toddler. My 9 year old has our 20 year old
set in
> his bedroom to use as a Nintendo screen. It isn't hooked up to
receive
> any channels. I don't know how this would be reported on a survey.
>
> Are TVs cheaper in the US? In the UK do you pay special taxes on
the TV
> set?
>
> Betsy

Robyn Coburn

<<**Who are all these rich people who can afford an extra TV to stick in
a
child's bedroom. 99% of people I know have just the one TV.**>>



I don't know if anyone is taking a survey on this list, but my
contribution is this:

We have a TV with X-box in the living room, my old TV from my single
days, with a DVD player in the shared bedroom for all to use, both
connected to Dish Network, and Jayn has a small combo TV/DVD in the
bedroom on her crib (never used as sleeping place)unconnected to dish.
We purchased the latter in the insane hope that she might just put her
own DVD's on by herself more often. Needless to say, she is just like
the rest of the family in preferring a bigger screen most of the time.
She uses it sometimes. Her favorite stuff is recorded in the Dish
receiver in the living room, so that is what she watches when it is TV.
For DVD's it usually depends on where Dad is, and if he wants to watch
the news etc. Lately Jayn has been asking me to read her stories more
often than ever. She is also pulling books from her shelves that have
not interested her before - latest enthusiasm - Beatrix Potter.

Robyn Coburn





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Heidi

We only have one TV, but in thinking of the people I know, many more
than 1% have more than one TV:

best friend=2; my folks=2; another good friend=2; a friend from
church who lives alone=4 (a TV in every room but the bathroom, but to
be fair, because we're over there frequently, she put TV's in the
kitchen and spare room so the kids could choose something different
if they wanted to...); former next door neighbors =4; newcomers to
the neighborhood=2; some other friends from church=2; my mil=2;

I haven't been in every house in our current neighborhood, nor had I
where we used to live, but two TV's is becoming much more common. AND
they're starting to show up in new mini-vans.

Blessings, HeidiC

> I don't know if anyone is taking a survey on this list, but my
> contribution is this:
>
> We have a TV with X-box in the living room, my old TV from my single
> days, with a DVD player in the shared bedroom for all to use, both
> connected to Dish Network, and Jayn has a small combo TV/DVD in the
> bedroom on her crib (never used as sleeping place)unconnected to
dish.
> We purchased the latter in the insane hope that she might just put
her
> own DVD's on by herself more often. Needless to say, she is just
like
> the rest of the family in preferring a bigger screen most of the
time.
> She uses it sometimes. Her favorite stuff is recorded in the Dish
> receiver in the living room, so that is what she watches when it is
TV.
> For DVD's it usually depends on where Dad is, and if he wants to
watch
> the news etc. Lately Jayn has been asking me to read her stories
more
> often than ever. She is also pulling books from her shelves that
have
> not interested her before - latest enthusiasm - Beatrix Potter.
>
> Robyn Coburn
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]