As others see it: When TV's off, minds are on

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Quality day care providers were probably shocked by the survey results: Children in home-based day cares can spend as much as two hours a day in front of the television. ...

No, television isn’t the way to teach our children. Studies show that too much television leads to lethargic children, development issues and attention loss. ...

The key is parents. For parents, it's easy to tell the good daycare provider from the bad — talk to your kids and pay attention. Leave the bad providers behind and find better services — that’s a parent’s responsibility.

And when you get home, share in the responsibility to keep children from getting too much television time. A second part of the study added more concern to the amount of television time children were getting — it’s reported children get the same or more television time at home.

Television has been criticized since the first black and white television crackled to life decades ago.

Good daycares — in-home or those in centers — aren’t planting children in front of televisions for hours on end. Good daycare providers interact with children, read, play and stimulate their senses; parents have the same role.

We should be concerned by the survey results but use them as a reminder that when the television goes off, young minds go on. And turning that young mind on is a responsibility we all share.

Rapid City (S.D.) Journal

Tags: opinion, editorials, daycare, television