On this episode of TechWise, Brad Huddleston tackles a crucial question for parents. Is TV bad for our kids?
Brad explores some insights from Dr Dimitri Christakis, whose research journey began when he found himself soothing his fussy baby by watching television. Dr Christakis realised something important was happening. In his popular TEDx talk, he shared the “over-stimulation hypothesis,” which explains how fast-changing images during critical periods of a child’s brain development can lead to problems later in life.
Dr Christakis showed a 20-second clip from the children’s educational series, Baby Einstein, to illustrate his point. Despite its educational purpose, the scenes were in random order, had no logical sequence, and were paced in a rapid fashion.
A Crucial Question for Parents
“A young child watching the video isn’t trying to make sense of a story,” Brad says.
Dr Christakis reached the following conclusion, saying “they are not capable of making sense of it,” and pointing out that rather than helping, this type of content actually harms young brains.
“Even educational television can harm children’s brains,” Brad says. “Because the thing that is keeping them engaged with the video is the rapid scene changes and heightened stimulation.”
Brad encourages parents to carefully consider how much and what kind of television their children watch. Being intentional about screen time can make a huge difference.
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