From the May 1998 AAP News , the official news magazine of the American Academy of Pediatrics With new shows targeted to children as young as 1 year, parents are asking more questions about how television might be influencing their children.
Pediatricians can help young families make wise decisions about family media consumption.
Neuroscientists have shown that environmental experiences significantly shape the developing brain because of the plasticity of its neuronal connectivity. In addition, trying to plunge youngsters into academic learning, when they should be personally investigating the three-dimensional world, risks bypassing important aspects of development. Negative outcomes have been observed in today's schools, which appear to be related to too much of the wrong kind of media exposure. Of course, parents' rushed life-styles and societal changes are partially responsible, but a growing body of research on television viewing clearly supports its causation role, with different children's tolerance thresholds varying widely. This may be because television substitutes for reading practice, partially because the compellingly visual nature of the stimulus blocks development of left-hemisphere language circuitry.