Dear Parent,

Here is a truth hard to tell to busy parents: TV, DVDs, PCs and other electronic tools could have dangerous effects on your child’s development.

Yes, babies are able to learn lots of things practically from birth, faster than at any other age in life. However, there is one major condition to that: newborns are effectively ready to learn from day one by interacting with human beings, and preferably their parents (children pay much more attention to the people they trust and love than strangers).
Of course, it feels great to have a moment of peace and be able to use television to mesmerize our kids for a while. But you are not doing yourself or your child a favour, only paving the way for more troubles for both of you just a few years down the road.

Research has now shown that television watched in the first years (especially the first 2 years):

1. Increases aggressive behaviour
2. Increases risks of obesity (this is not a problem only in the West anymore.)
3. Increases hyperactivity, attention deficit, shorter attention spans, which generally reveal themselves several years later (by age 5 to 7)

It’s true that when products are labelled educational, the temptation is strong to give in to marketing ploys. In any case, it’s always better to hold off from impulse buying and remember that a vast majority of child development experts say exposure to TV is very bad for your baby.

What parents only get with those expensive electro-flashy-miracle products is a good feeling about buying something that should make their baby smarter; while babies, for their part, barely get anything out of it. Worse, they can end up 1 step behind: a recent study showed that the use of DVDs for babies 8 to 16 months could even lead to delays in language abilities. Even old fashioned building blocks have proven to be more effective.

While in practical terms, it might not be realistic to completely eliminate the TV set of today’s modern life, the only good solution is to watch TV together with your child. And if you are alone at home with your baby and that you have to take a shower, or cook dinner, you are condemned to take her with you. This will be an excellent opportunity for some baby talk, the very best of all early teaching practices. Your baby will thank you a few years from now!

Best regards and good parenting!

John Debonneville
Co-founder and Editor
Edukey Ltd

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