I can just picture it now; a bunch of researchers sitting around a table, feet propped up, sipping Coca Cola, eating Cheetos and complaining about how bored they are. They talk about their lack luster lives and wonder why in hell they ever thought to become the explorers of every thing opinionated. Suddenly it dawns on them that there is yet another way to stir up some proverbial shit all the while demeaning the work of an entire segment of the population. Eureka! They have it - a study on daycare and television viewing. Apparently studying the prevalence of bad techniques by parents wasn't popular that day. But attacking daycare providers is always a sure fire success. Off they go, back packs over their shoulder to interview lowly daycare providers and larger than life commercial daycare centres.
The finding of this group of orange thumbed, Cheetos crunchers was the topic of media choice yesterday. Headlines hit screens and paper proclaiming that once again, the well known moniker of commercial daycare trumping home daycare was validated.
According to the researchers 168 licensed child care programs were included in the study. Of those 168 licensed programs 70% of the children in home daycare watched television during care hours as opposed to only 36% in commercial care. The study goes on to further state the undeniable correlation between obesity and aggression in children with too much television viewing. I have to wonder where it is that they found these home daycare providers.
I know a lot of home daycare providers both in person and on-line and unless 99% of those providers are lying the study seems flawed in relation to the statistics presented. One must wonder if the flaws lie not in the data but in the parameters of truth. Most home daycare providers are truthful, unassuming people. They have little to hide and stand behind the excellent care they provide. And yes, even excellent care can include limited television viewing. In short, home daycare providers have nothing to lose by confessing their truths. Not so for commercial daycare.
Commercial daycare relies heavily on grants and bursaries. And one knows that whenever the government and its money is involved rules are applied. Commercial daycare centres in all provinces and states are mandated to have an approved and cookie cutter curriculum. And within that curriculum are allotted screen times. I can only assume then that commercial daycare centres, when asked about television viewing time would answer with the correct, guideline mandated time allotment. Commercial daycare is about money and large corporations seek only the bottom line. Corporations rarely muddy their perfect reputations intentionally.
The one line from the study commentary that stood out as most ridiculous was the following:
"The authors conclude that TV viewing in day care could double the total screen time for children when added to the time they spend in front of the tube at home."
Really? "Double the time they spend watching television at home"? If researches and parents are so up in arms about their child watching television at daycare why then are they watching so much at home? And, considering that a child spends an average of ten to eleven hours a day in daycare the scarce 1.6 hours, as cited by the study, of television viewing amounts to about 15% of the total time spent with the daycare provider. However, using those same statistics and the fact that the average child spends a mere four hours a day awake and at home those same viewing hours would amount to 40% of their total time at home. Perhaps the problem is not what is happening at daycare but what is happening at home. Parents get the small luxury of spending four waking hours a day with their child and the child spends nearly half of it watching television?
I understand that as daycare providers we are getting paid to stimulate and engage the children in our care. But a little bit of realism must accompany those expectations. We have five or more charges in our care at any one time. If being able to meet the demands of the day mean incorporating television during lunch preparation or keeping a child quiet at nap time to allow others to sleep then so be it. Home daycare providers are solo acts and every parent who signs on to care knows this going in. There are no surprises and none of us professes to be super heroes.
Television is not detrimental to children when used in a responsible and age appropriate manner. In fact, I conclude that television facilitates language and interaction. Anyone who has ever witnessed a three year old watch Dora The Explorer or Sesame Street can attest to the fact that they are engaging, educational programs that children love. Children, like adults desire to be entertained. Why not allow them that luxury?
Oh, and one last note. About that obesity statistic in relation to television viewing in daycare. Perhaps the researches need to visit my daycare and that of my colleagues and then take a short trip down the street to visit the commercial daycare center. There is no risk of obesity here. My kids are outside at least two hours a day. Place yourself outside of the commercial daycare and watch for the duration of one day. You will notice something - every child gets exactly two half hour periods of outdoor time. Of course, this is mandated by the government. So I can only assume they will return to their classroom to have their 0.1 hours of television time too. Yeah, 0.1 hours - that would be six minutes. I hardly think the staff is turning off the television after Dora just started. There would be mutiny.
Perhaps those researches need to go back to their tables, put their feet back up and start thinking who to pick on next. We are an easy target. Perhaps next time they could challenge themselves.
For concerns, advice or suggestions I welcome your email at judytrickett@yahoo.ca
17 comments:
that was pretty good!! As I type this, I have three kids watching the boob tube. two out of th three will hopefully fall fast asleep after about .2 hours of t.v time. This is the first time the t.v has been on at my house all day. It's usually on during nap/quiet time for those who don't nap. I agree with you about that number of .1 hours of t.v time in the average daycare centre each day! That would be cruel and unusual punishment allowing the kids to watch six minutes of a show!
I myself as a child watched at least two or three hours a day of television when I wasn't in school. I remember sesame street which was an hour long show. Romper Room (half hour) Mr. Dressup (half hour) and the flintstones at noon followed by the news afterwards. And that doesn't count the evening line up lol! Not that I had much choice of what to watch. We lived on two channels until I hit the age of 15 when our small town got cable!! Hello Much Music and CMT!!
Seriously though, I was an active kid with a great imagination. My mom was a stay at home mom for most of my developmental years so I rarely did go to a sitters on a regular basis. Funny how when I did go there, the year I started kindergarten, my mom did try working again so I would go to school one day, then the sitters the next. I have no idea how long this lasted but the funny thing is: I do NOT remember watching t.v at my friend's house where I went! We probably did watch t.v but I can't recall. I do know I was sort of shy since I'd been home with my mom most of the time but I did play with this other ladies kids, the two boys who were older and her daughter who was younger than me. Regardless, I grew up to be just fine (yes I could stand to lose a few pounds, but I'm not in the obese category because I watched so many hours of good old Canadian Television growing up!!) I'm now going to find this CBC article you mentioned!!!
Yeah, in case you are wondering. I changed the title. It just came to me that my title could be better and then I thought of the new one. Kind of fits it better don't you think? LOL!
Okay I just finished reading that article and what irked me is how they say t.v viewing could be related to language delay!!! So not true with any of the kids I have known over the years! My next door neighbor's kids, both boys, born seven years apart are carbon copies of each other. Both of those boy must watch an exceptional amount of t.v because every time you see them, they start talking so animatedly about the latest movie that's out. Their entire lives seem to revolve around movies and shows on t.v. Of course I know this is not true, they are involved in sports and things and they have great parents. Both boys were talking clearly and in sentences at well before the age of two (of course even back then, they chatted non stop about their favorite cartons) but the oldest was reading before he started kindergarten and the youngest who is now 4 goes next fall and has been ready for a couple years now. He could tell us his colors and shapes and other things at 18 months. At the age of two he told everyone he was ten like his brother was going to turn on his next birthday. I wish I could take credit for being their childcare provider but it's a friend of mine who has been their caregiver since before I moved to this city and ended up living next door to this family. But I see these boys every day when my friend and I get together for coffee and so I've known how smart they both are for years!! And that being said, they have spent full time mon to fri at the sitters for their entire lives and I know there isn't as much t.v going on in that home daycare setting as there is in their own home. Neither of these kids is overweight, like I said, both active kids on my block, playing in the middle of the road with the best of them! T.v might be an influence in their life but they aren't suffering for it at all!
oh yeah one more thing, did I mention I don't have a college education? Grrrrrrrr
great title by the way!! I probably wouldn't have even noticed if you hadn't said anything! I can't even remember what you'd originally called it!
I saw this article yesterday and it infuriated me for the reasons stated above. I think you should fax your article to every paper you can or give us permission to send it into our local papers (with your blog address at the bottom of course)! How many hours do children of stay at home moms spend watching TV? Why get the parents up in arms about such a stupid issue when there is nothing they can do about it anyway since there are so few spots in commercial child cares?
Qwerty
Sure, you are all welcome to send any of my posts to anyone of your chosing. I have nothing to hide! Everyone is entitled to my opinion! LOL!
you know, I worked in many commercial day care centers and yes, they lie about how much time the kids spend in front of the tv. How? They claim 'movies' are different than 'tv'. Do you know how many 'movie days' some daycares have?-LOTS!!!! One child brings in a movie on a bitterly cold day and suddenly everyone needs to bring in a movie..and hey if we watched little johnny's movie how can we NOT watch little Suzy's, David's AND Natalie's movies too?
When I started my day home three years ago I swore the tv would never go on during the day...and I kept that promise for 1 month!
Why so short? Because I found myself getting very frustrated constantly trying to get the children to settle down before naptime while I was attempting to clean up after lunch. Once I put on the TV for a mere 20min things settled down, I didn't lose my temper and the kidlets would sit quietly and begin to relax before they laid down. Plus, timing had The main character of the show (sorry the name slips my mind right now)going for a nap.
Granted, now my kidlets are older and don't nap as long so they now get about 35 min of tv and I can clean and get prepped for the afternoon in relative time.
I am aware of what they watch and how much...and yes, I know of parents who are asked the minute the child gets picked up "can I watch_______ when we get home?" and the parent agreeing...even when it is NOT something I would allow a 10yr old to watch let alone a 3yr old.
Once again, it is society trying to make working parents feel 'guilty' for putting their child into care and making home child care providers look like worthless people whio only stick children in front of the tv to make money.
Sad, but true...
dmansmommy
Of course i read this after letting the kids watch a 30 min Veggie Tales video- first tv they've watched in 3 weeks. Why'd we watch tv today? 2nd day of rain, and the babies NEEDED a nap, so to entertain the 4 15 mo-2 yr old kids and keep them quiet I indulged. Is that the norm? no. Are any of them even close to obese? no.
We watch on the average 30 min every 2 weeks, so one hour per month, which is 1/2 the cited DAILY amount of tv the article claims, spread throughout the MONTH rather than in one day.
Like Judy's daycare kids, mine spend a LOT of time outside. Even accounting for winter we spend an average of 6-7 hours/week outside running, climbing , jumping etc.
My daycare kids eat their veggies, get tons of exercise, have lots of mental stimulation, and are not just warehoused like centers.
I find it hilarious when you have a new kid start care and they show up in their Dora or Diego outfit, their winnie the pooh blanket and their Cinderella sippie cup and their parents are the same ones that sat in the interview and gave you a 20 minute rant about TV and how they don't want their kids watching it. WHAT-EVER.
Yeah. Saw this on the news this morning before the kids came. It really bugged me. Propaganda crap. Nothing like tying to make the day home providers look like idiots. After all its not a real job or considered work with what we do right?
I find tv the topic of debate with so many families. I spell it right out for them at my interview that tv is limited, usually only for the older kids who don't nap. But....they have to remember that their child will at one point not nap (or they will request that little Johnny not nap because he doesn't go to bed well) and that means that they too will be enjoying a video at naptime. I have also informed parents that tv doesn't stop at daycare...just wait till they start school. I'm shocked at how many movies my girls watch at school during lunch time/movie days etc. How come the news doesn't put this in their study???
I saw the article yesterday and was mad!!
To the poster above me, I was about to write the same thing!! It's astounding the amount of movies that my kids watch at school. ATLEAST once or twice a week they are telling me what they watched, sometimes 3 days in a row. Seriously. Just like everything else, it's called moderation people. What a job they have - being able to make crap up when they don't have anything to write about.
I simply moved my TV out of the dayhome area. We don't watch it during the day. We don't have movie days very often either. Only the 2 (one being my own) than don't nap will watch treehouse occassionally when I feel like I'm going to lose my mind.
Okay this is my favorite part of the article:
"The researchers recommend that pediatricians advise parents to take steps to minimize screen time in child care settings."
Worry not parents, no one is recommending that you actually do anything about the obscene amount of tv your kids watch at home. That could involve "parenting" and we try to avoid that as much as possible. Instead, we encourage you to make your provider's job harder. Our children are only supposed ot watch 2 hours of tv a day and we already watch 2.4 hours at home, so clearly the solution to this problem is to ban television in childcare settings.
My children watch some television at daycare and at home. Not a lot, they are too active to sit and watch. I see nothing wrong with using TV as an aide, I use it while I am preparing dinner, I expect my DCP uses it while she prepare lunch. Parents need to relax, and unless their children are watching NO television at home, some television at daycare is FINE!
I've done both roles and I know that in group care, they are supposed to document the TV watching percisely. What, where and how long. Not so in home daycare obviously. I personally limited TV watching to rainy days or special times. Worked for me. That did not apply to my kids outside of daycare hours. My view was I was paid to be with the kids and interact, not have them in front of the TV. I'd expect the same from a provider I might choose for my own kids. And yes, I do believe kids can learn lots from TV if chosen appropriately.
To correct your information, daycares in Ontario are mandated by the DNA to spend 2 hours, not 1, outside a day broken into 2 seperate 1 hour periods. I can't say it happens but I do know of MANY that follow this guideline. Sane could be said of HCCP. I know several HP's that barely take their kids out. Some wouldn't at all if it wasn't for a school run. And are the kids actually active? Nope! They are strapped in a stroller or in a wagon. How is that helping exercising?
As with many things, depending on how you look at it, you can make the data fit. I'd also say be careful of being judgemental yourself here.
LMM
I have a daughter in a commerical center who is receiving excellent care. Take issue if you will with the research (no arguments here), but your blog seems to suggest that all researchers are idiots (they are not), that all in-home daycare providers are perfect wonderful people (I can tell you from personal experience, they are not), and that all center-based care is worthless (again, personal experience suggests otherwise).
I know the point here about this particular study, but you undermine your own credibility by being as sweeping in your generalizations and as off-base with your assertions as the researchers in this particular study. Frankly, you come off as a little paranoid. You seem to think that everyone else spends their days concocting ways to keep in-home providers down, which is just silliness. Do many people undervalue daycare providers? I am sure they do. Do researchers sit around plotting ways to undermine you...I think not. And I would think that one daycare provider who is ALWAYS complaining about how little respect your profession gets would not dismiss a whole segment of daycare providers out of hand.
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