Threats to Girlhood
Threats to Girlhood
Almost half of all parents believe that baby videos positively impact early child/infant development. 11 Television exposure has actually been shown to impede infant and early childhood development, delay language acquisition, impair attention control, dull cognitive development, and rouse aggressive behavior.12 TV programming actually distracts babies, thereby limiting their social and active engagement in play activities that are fundamental for neurological and cognitive development.13
Media, Television, & Hyper-Sexualization
Parents are less engaged and less responsive to their babies when the television is on.14
TV viewing among kids is at an eight-year high.21 3, 4, and 5 year olds lose 45 minutes of creative play for every hour of television they consume.15 11 The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. “The Media Family: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Their Parents.” Wednesday, May 24, 2006, Washington, D.C. http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia052406pkg.cfm 12 Christakis, Dimitri A, Jill Gilkerson, Jeffrey A Richards, Frederick J Zimmerman, et al. “Audible Television and Decreased Adult Words, Infant Vocalizations, and Conversational Turns: A Population-Based Study” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Chicago: Jun 2009. Vol. 163, Iss. 6; p. 554. 13 Christakis, Dimitri A, Jill Gilkerson, Jeffrey A Richards, Frederick J Zimmerman, et al. “Audible Television and Decreased Adult Words, Infant Vocalizations, and Conversational Turns: A Population-Based Study” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Chicago: Jun 2009. Vol. 163, Iss. 6; p. 554. 14 Wilson , B. J.; Smith, S.L.; Potter, W.J.; Kunkel, D.; Linz, D.; Colvin, C.M.; & Donnerstein, E. (2002) “Violence in Children’s Television Programming: Assessing the Risks.” Journal of Communication, 52. p.5-35. 15 Vandewater, Elizabeth A.’ Bickham, David S.; and June H. Lee. “Time Well Spent? Relating Television Use to Children’s Free-Time Activities.” Pediatrics 117, no 2 (2006). p.181-91.
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