TV isn't the bane of our existence
Stanley Greenspan, among other experts, was quoted in The New York Times lamenting the fact that parents use TV as a "babysitter" and clucking about how parents just don't grasp how damaging it is to kids.
While I didn't allow my kids to watch TV when they were under the age of 2, and I think parking a kid of any age in front of a TV for hours is a really bad thing for lots of reasons, I was annoyed by sanctimonious tone of these experts' comments .
Greenspan pioneered the concept of floor time as a way to treat autistic kids--the idea was that parents should get on their floor and "engage" their kids. But he's also been evangelizing for floortime for parents of all kids. Fine enough--he gets paid for doing floortime. And he has a knack for it and probably enjoys it, which is why he is making a living doing it.
But how are the rest of us supposed to follow suit when we have 1) laundry 2) dinner to cook 3) other kids who have homework 4) a household to run? Not to mention that some of us (okay me) find playing Barbies or Candyland for the hundredth time something akin to water torture. (Drip drip. When will this end?)
In fact, find me a parent who does NOT resort to the TV as a babysitter at times, and I'll find you a parent with a full time nanny or grandma who babysits. Or someone heavily medicated. Or someone who yells A LOT.
Stumble It!
posted by pam at 2:13 PM
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