This past Tuesday the American Academy of Pediatrics sent out a release, warning parents of infants and toddlers to limit the time their children spend in front of the televisions, computers, self-described educational games and even grown-up shows playing in the background. Video screen time provides no educational benefits for children under age 2 and leaves less room for activities that do, like interacting with other people and playing, the group said.
The group made clear that there is no such thing as an “educational program” for children under two, and that leaving the TV on as background noise, as many households do, distracts both children and adults. Studies also found that between TV’s, computers, iPads and smartphones, houweholds may have 10 or more screens within them.
So far, there is no evidence that exposure to any of these gadgets causes long-term developmental problems, still, recent research makes it clear that young children learn a lot more efficiently from real interactions — with people and things — than from situations appearing on video screens.
To read more about the recent release, visit the full article at The New York Times.