Making the most of TV time with kids
Making the most of TV time with kids
Society tends to look down on moms who plop their children in front of the television so they can get something done, but a new study found that TV can be a positive parenting tool in certain circumstances. When children of low-income families watch parent-approved educational programing together with their moms it can be beneficial, according to a recent University of Michigan study. That’s especially true of moms who manage their children’s media use.
In the study, 296 low-income moms were asked between 2011 and 2013 about beliefs and rules regarding their 4- to 8-year-old child’s television-watching behavior, how they manage screen time and whether they allow television during meals. Participants were recruited from 2009 to 2011 from a cohort of primary caregivers and their children attending Head Start programs in Michigan. Head Start is a no-cost preschool program for children ages 3 to 5, whose families are at or below poverty level.
“The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how mothers in lower-income households manage their child’s TV use. We wanted to understand their experiences around television viewing,” said Sarah Domoff, a researcher at the University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development and assistant professor at Central Michigan University.
“We learned that mothers have many decisions to make around screen time in the home. It seems unrealistic to think that the question is just, ‘Should we turn the TV on or keep it off?’ We heard mothers emphasizing the importance of what their child watched and not so much about for how long should their child watch TV,” Domoff said.
Just like sharing a book, watching good programming together can expose children to new ideas and help them bond with a parent. Mothers shared “positive experiences they had watching TV with their children. For example, they shared what they found exciting that their child learned from educational or prosocial television shows,” Domoff said.
Researchers also found that moms enjoy the time they spend sharing quality programming with their children — especially watching their children learn.
“That’s important because for families with fewer resources, watching television was something they valued, and it appeared to be an important activity that they enjoyed,” Domoff said.
Screen time is a big issue for all families, and television is still the most popular electronic medium, Domoff said.
“The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how mothers in lower-income households manage their child’s TV use. We wanted to understand their experiences around television viewing.” Sara Domoff, researcher