I love TV and I don't think kids should be limited in watching it.
The subject line is the short answer to the following question that was posted on one of my homeschooling mailing lists:
I try to reduce the screen time my children watch TV (actually DVDs), but my [husband] is the one who [usually] puts movies on. Is there a website... that talks about the dangers of wachting the screen? I'm also trying to get my husband to read to my children. How can I get him to read more to his children?
Here is my long answer:
You can find statistics that say anything you want them to, but I personally love TV and don't think it's harmful even in occasional large quantities. As part of my work as a freelance writer, I freelance writing TV reviews and analyses on various web sites and columns. This grew out of writing Star Trek fan fiction adventure stories as a teenager - it helped me hone my writing skills and develop an interest in writing about TV and put me in touch with other writers online. I've made a living very nicely this way, and I've made a lot of great, intelligent friends on TV forums discussing TV, some of whom I've later met in real life. Some of them are even famous. :)
I'm not talking the History Channel or the Discovery Channel - though those are great, too - I'm talking House, Bones, American Idol, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica. Aside from being my preferred background noise while working, and a good way to unwind after a long day, I think I've learned a whole lot from TV shows. You pick up all kinds of tidbits about science, civics, law & government, history, music, health, finances, literature, art, and many other subjects. The stuff that's distasteful to me hasn't really influenced me to live a distasteful life, it just makes me glad I'm not like that and makes me more aware of what the consequences of harmful choices look like. And, yes, PBS, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel have GREAT content on a daily basis. I've even learned a ton about one of my pet subjects - interior decorating and home organization - from TV shows on the Style Channel like "Clean House" and "Dress My Nest."
I'm not saying that you should let your kids watch Law & Order marathons all day; children don't have the perspective or experience to know that they're liable to see something that's harmful or traumatizing to them on shows with intense violence or sexuality, or even adult situations like on "House," which has little of the first 2 things but often shows open heart surgery and things like that. (I find this fascinating, but I won't lie and say some of it is hard to watch.) Your kids don't want to be traumatized, so it's up to you to help them remain untraumatized and inform them of what's on the show so they can make an informed decision. I've never controlled or restricted what my son watches, so he trusts that when I say, "This show has a lot of violence and an upsetting theme," I'm not trying to tell hiim what to do or what to watch, but I'm legitimately looking out for him, and skips it. In this way, also, he has learned what is too intense for him, too.
He also knows that he can watch TV whenever he wants in his free time, so he... doesn't actually watch that much TV. I think like with anything else, if a child knows he has access to something, it loses some of its mystique. In homes where I've seen "screentime" tightly regulated, TV is like a precious gem to those kids. It's all they think about all day long! They do their schoolwork with their eye on the clock. They will harangue their mother with "is it time yet?" and argue about every last minute they have and it's just sad. My kid just knows it's there for fun and sometimes chooses to watch it, but mostly not. It doesn't cast a shadow over all his free time. It's just one of many things we can do for fun.
That's a sticking point, of course - if there's nothing to do in your house, then you can't blame the kids for wanting to watch TV, vs. sitting down with a worthy novel or something. If you're worried your kids watch too much TV, try providing them with tons of alternatives that THEY love (not that you find worthwhile - stuff THEY enjoy and THEY think is cool.) If you're having too much fun to remember to watch TV, you're not going to turn into a couch potato.
I'm saying that if your kids and husband really love watching television, maybe instead of trying to control that love, you could try to watch with them and see what it is they love so much about it and try to share it with them. I watch a lot of Disney channel shows with my son and we've shared a lot of laughs and had a lot of good talks with him about many issues thanks to what we see.
What we watch doesn't always reflect my values, but when it doesn't, I talk about it with him or mention it briefly with him, and sometimes he asks me to expound, so that's lead to a lot of good discussions about how our values differ from the world's. And watching "American Idol" tryouts together is a joy for four generations of my family every year. :)
Part of it is trusting what your kids' idea of fun is, and part of it is also trusting that they're smart enough to understand that just because Hannah Montana said it, doesn't mean it's okay for them to say it, too. It's never been a problem for us.
Your husband, I'm afraid, can't be "made" to do anything he doesn't want to do. Unlike children, who CAN be controlled (for now), husbands are adults who get to make their own choices. Trying to take that away is likely to breed resentment, even with good intentions. How would you feel if your husband tried to make you read less, and watch more TV? It would probably just breed resentment then, too. For the peace of the household and peaceful relationships with family members, I think it's better to just embrace what family members enjoy doing rather than try to make them conform to what my idea of "good" and "worthwhile" is. I'm trying this with my son's video games, too, and whaddaya know, those are also turning out to be fun and educational.
To answer the original question, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no direct, concrete proof that watching TV is harmful in any way. There are anecdotal opinions, and there is a lot of fear-mongering and a lot of slanted conclusions based on loaded studies, but there's no established causal correlation between TV and any kind of physical or emotional harm to kids.
I hope this post is taken in the loving, encouraging spirit it's intended.
