Battling the one-eyed monster: practical advice for helping your child escape the mind-numbing TV, video, and computer-game habit.

The headlines leap at at you: "Too Much Television Tied to Attention-deficit Problems!" Your guilt mushrooms as rOll locate your pride and joy sitting alone in a darkened room staring at the television set. As you hustle him out into the afternoon sunshine, you wonder, "Just how much time is my kid spending in front of a TV or computer screen and what will be the long-range consequences?"

IN light of recent studies linking a host of childhood problems to the overuse of TV, many parents are asking, "What's a child supposed to do?" In this article specialists and concerned parents offer their opinions on why too much television and video time is bad for kids. They also suggest some effective ways to redirect children's activities.

"In the preschool years a child's brain is growing at a fast rate," says Rose Godfrey, speech-language pathologist, M.A. and owner/director of The Speech Works, a private practice in speech-language pathology. "Neural pathways are being laid down. The basis for all other learning rests on these early years. A child should be engaging in a variety of hands-on activities every day. She should be using her senses, experiencing the grass between her toes and the wind on her face, and finding out how things work."

Godfrey points out, "Most parents say their children watch little or no TV. But when I ask them to specify what they watch, it doesn't take long to add up. I've even had kids as young as 2 tell me their favorite show is Fear Factor. There's no reason a 2-year-old child should be watching anything like that." Godfrey goes on to say that the use of TV, computers, and videos should be balanced with other activities. "You wouldn't feed your child only beans, no matter how nutritious you know them to be, because you know that your child needs a balanced diet. Your child needs a balanced activity diet as well."

Going by the Book

Experts agree that even educational television can be a problem if it robs a child of time to ride a bike, climb a tree, play imaginatively, help make pancakes, or just daydream. Doe Gevas, B.A. in early childhood education and a college-level professor of child development, shares her insights: "Children need to learn to be creative. This is one of the many benefits of exposing children to good literature. Parents should commit to reading to their children each day. In the same way that a certain smell takes us back to a particular memory at a grandparent's house, so good books can provide special memories of childhood for our children." Gevas adds, "Parents need to invest time teaching their child to socialize well; how to share, to respect others' space, and how to talk to others. Then the parent should back off so the child is not dependent on their morn or dad for play."

She cautions parents who feel that they must continually create play groups for a child that kids need free, unscheduled time. "I see more and more children ruling their parents. We're frequently letting kids say when they and their parents are going somewhere, what they're going to be doing, and how fast they should do it."

When asked what promotes creative play, Gevas states, "Simple things. Getting to play in sand and mud. Building forts inside and out of the house. Knowing it's OK to make a mess (with permission), but being taught to clean up afterward. If kids are used to being entertained and watch too much TV, it will be hard for them to focus in a classroom. They may have gotten too used to [high-budget and professionally produced] bells and whistles."

Declining Motor Skills

Twenty-year veteran kindergarten teacher Laura Campbell mentions one change that she's noticed over the years. "Children don't come to school with the fine motor skills that they used to have. They come able to handle a joy stick, but they don't have paper, pencil, scissors, and ruler skills." For creative play, she suggests scrapbook supplies and art kits. "It's worth a few dollars to invest in a good-quality brush and thick watercolor paper." She also promotes the idea of an "invention box" in her classroom. "I fill a box with all kinds of recyclable materials, tape, and glue, and encourage the kids to be inventive. I assure them that they can make anything out of anything, and urge them to get busy!" Not surprisingly, her invention box is a huge success.

Campbell also encourages her students to illustrate stories they hear, using as much detail as possible. When a child draws a detailed picture about a story he has heard, it's a preparatory step to being able to write with detail.

Daisy Phillip emphasizes that she and her husband, Jim, never use baby talk with their five children. "Our family doctor once commented, 'Your kids all speak so clearly!' We plan times alone with each of our children to talk over their day, problem-solve specific issues, or just do something tim." Daisy says, "We have raised our kids to spend time helping each other with crafts, chores, schoolwork, sewing, and horseback riding. The kids have their own gardens, which they started from seeds. Each night a different child helps with dinner preparation."

When describing family bike rides, picnics and hikes, church attendance, and singing in a children's choir, she insists it doesn't take a lot of thought to realize that these activities take up time that other children use sitting in front of a television or computer screen. Daisy adds that, though their family enjoys large amounts of family time, "our children are fairly self-motivated, independent, and able to entertain themselves."

Social and Independent Play

Pointing out that these qualities are a priority in the Phillip household, she then shares a tip to help other children learn to play and work a little more independently. "My husband, Jim, or I make a tape for each child to listen to while in their room working or playing alone." Suggestions for a tape might include sharing a special memory or helping the child with memorizing a song or an academic subject.

Other positive ways for families to use their time together might include visiting zoos, the beach, the mountains, touring adjacent cities, going bird-watching, or visiting a pumpkin farm or museums.

Television watching, computer-playing, or video viewing are all passive activities. Someone else is doing the work, being creative, expending energy. Children need the opportunity to become the producers of their own lives, actively participating in the building up of their futures. The benefits will positively impact their physical bodies, their mental capacities, and their spiritual awareness.

Maureen Baird writes from Yuba City, California. She's a freelance writer with articles and devotions published in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Orange County Register, as well as several children's magazines.

TEN QUICK TIPS

1. Use a filter to keep the programming coming into your house appropriate.

2. Don't start viewing habits with your kids that you will have to break later.

3. Buy active toys rather than more videos or DVDs.

4. Use a timer to start and stop TV, video, and computer time.

5. Rotate your child's toys so that he/she will have fresh things to use every couple of months.

6. Don't start early-morning TV/video time with children. It makes it hard to break the habit when they begin school.

7. Avoid commercial TV as long as possible (even into the teen years).

8. Don't simply buy more TVs to prevent programming arguments. Make up a fair and appropriate schedule and stick to it.

9. Have several "No TV, videos, computer games" weeks each year.

10. Plan outdoor game tournaments for times that you want to wean a child from the television.