A few months a go I read an article in the New York times that was urging parents to limit the time their young child watches tv. Their reason was that it has been studied that it affects children's development if they watch a lot of tv before the age of 2. The article also said that it's bad for the parent to watch tv around the child. Even if the child is playing with toys at a distance, the child glances at the tv about 3 times a minute. I'm not surprised to hear this because in fact I've heard it a lot and I know of parents who don't allow their young children to watch tv. But what surprised me is that the article said video games are okay. Games on consoles or smart phones do not pose the same threat because it forces the child to interact versus passively sit. This is what peaked my interest. I know everyone has seen that child who is just too young playing with mom or dad's smart phone or tablet. Considering these devices are relatively new and available more than ever before, it makes me think that there are few if any studies looking at how children's brains develop with the constant interaction with these phones. Or even if these studies see a difference between smart phones and video game consoles. While this article may be right about limiting children's tv viewing, I feel there isn't enough empirical evidence to say video games are okay at such a young age.
