Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children from Birth to Age Five

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Overview
Editorial Reviews
What People Are Saying
Product Details
Meet the Author
Table of Contents

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Overview

As a mother, Lisa Guernsey wondered about the influence of television on her two young daughters. As a reporter, she resolved to find out. What she first encountered was tired advice, sensationalized research claims, and a rather draconian mandate from the American Academy of Pediatrics: no TV at all before the age of two. But like many parents, she wanted straight answers and realistic advice, so she kept digging: she visited infant-perception labs and child development centers around the country. She interviewed scores of parents, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and media researchers, as well as programming executives at Noggin, Disney, Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and PBS. Much of what she found flies in the face of conventional wisdom and led her to conclude that new parents will be best served by focusing on “the three C’s”: content, context, and the individual child.

Advocating a new approach to television and DVDs, Guernsey focuses on infants to five-year-olds and goes beyond the headlines to explore what exactly is “educational” about educational media. She examines how play and language development are affected by background and foreground television and how to choose videos that are age-appropriate. She explains how to avoid the hype of “brain stimulation” and focus instead on social relationships and the building blocks of language and literacy. Along the way, Guernsey highlights independent research on shows ranging from Dora the Explorer to Dragon Tales, and distills some surprising new findings in the field of child development. Into the Minds of Babes is a fascinating book that points out how little credible research exists to support the AAP’s dire recommendation. Parents, teachers, and psychologists will be relieved to learn positive approaches to using videos with young children and will be empowered to make their own informed choices.

What People Are Saying

Ellen Wartella

This is a wonderfully accessible book. ÿLisa Guernsey has offered a well reasoned explanation of the evidence on young children and media. (Ellen Wartella, Professor, Executive Vice-Chancellor and Provost, University of California at Riverside)

Claire Green

"Written with passion and precision, humor and humility, Into the Minds of Babes is a calming and reassuring new resource for parents." (Claire Green, President, Parents' Choice Foundation)

David W. Kleeman

"Reasoned and thorough . . . this is the book we've been waiting for!"--(David W. Kleeman, President, American Center for Children and Media)

Ellen Galinsky

"This journey into the best research on the impact of media on young children will serve as an essential guide to all those who care about kids."--(Ellen Galinsky, President, Families and Work Institute)

Michael H. Levine

"Every parent knows that today's young children are immersed in media in unprecedented ways. Is the ubiquity reason for new concern about a lessening of parent engagement or cause for optimism about the educative possibilities? Into the Minds of Babes is a thoroughly researched, sensibly balanced and beautifully written account of the growing role children's media play in contemporary society. It is a must read for those who wish to understand the rich and subtle ways media are influencing younger and younger children's lives every day."--(Michael H. Levine, PhD, Executive Director, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop)

Robert Kesten

"Guernsey's exploration of the world of electronic media and its positive and negative impact on young children is one we will all benefit from."--(Robert Kesten, Executive Director, Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness)

Shelley Pasnik

"Research can be confusing and contradictory yet this book is anything but. Distilling what we know about young children and media while sharing her experiences as a parent, Guernsey is an able guide."--(Shelley Pasnik, Director, Center for Children and Technology)

Editorial Reviews

Neil Izenberg

Journalist and mother Lisa Guernsey probes the powerful effects of video and TV on the developing mind. Brilliantly researched and engagingly written, Into the Minds of Babes answers the question that pediatricians, parents, and producers have wanted to know.will early childhood media create a new generation of baby Einsteins or baby zombies? (Neil Izenberg, M.D., FAAP, Pediatrician and Editor-in-Chief, KidsHealth.org)

New York Post

...fascinating and terrific new book.Guernsey doesn't take sides, but she raises more than enough questions (and thoughtful and lived solutions) that by the end of this informative, personable book I was glad to defer, once again, to my wife's good judgment in keeping the idiot box far from my daughters wandering eyes.

More Reviews (4) Fewer Reviews

St. Petersburgh SunTimes

As a parent of two young TV-watching girls, this former New York Times reporter attacks established myths, alleviates paranoia and finds a common-sense solution for how much television, if any, kids should watch.

Wall Street Journal

...balanced, lucid .a worthwhile book.Relying on dozens of scientific studies Ms. Guernsey explores the intricacies of ÿtrying to unpick the complicated weave of what goes on inside the head of a 1 - 2 year-old child crouched before a glowing screen.

Publishers Weekly

A science journalist and mother of two, Guernsey manages to extricate straightforward information and guidelines from the morass of research, articles and debates on screen media and child brain development. Easily digestible chapters are smartly structured around 12 pervasive concerns of interviewees from all walks of life. Guernsey explains how parents can shrewdly navigate a TV, DVD and video game market that has only begun developing its potential, much like the minds of the children it targets. Wisely sticking to manageable and legitimate solutions suitable for parents who don't see abstention as an option, Guernsey encourages parents to balance TV-watching with creative play and parent-child bonding time. The "three Cs" approach-considering content, context and child when making decisions about media-watching-is easily understood and adaptable to any family situation. (Sept.)

Television Quarterly magazine

A gift to parents . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780465027989
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 9/10/2007
Pages: 287
Sales rank: 604,059
Product dimensions: 6.13 (w) x 9.25 (h) x 0.69 (d)

Meet the Author

Lisa Guernsey is an education, science, and technology writer who has contributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. A former reporter on technology and education for the New York Times, she lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband and two children.

Preface, or the Three Cs: Content, Context and Your Child     xi
What Exactly Is This Video Doing to My Baby's Brain?     1
ADHD and autism-should I be worried?
Why do pediatricians say no screen time before age 2?
Notes     25
Is TV Turning My Tot into a Zombie?     27
Why does it look like my child is tuning out?
At what age do children become mentally engaged?
Notes     42
Could My Child Learn from Baby Videos?     45
How and when do toddlers learn from audiovisual media?
What is the "video deficit?"
Notes     65
My Toddler Doesn't Seem to Notice When the TV Is On-or Does He?     67
What is the impact of background television?
How does noise affect language development?
Notes     84
Which Videos Are Too Scary for My Child?     87
What content is most upsetting to young children?
What should I do when they get frightened by what they see?
Notes     111
What Is Educational About "Educational" TV?     113
What are the features of a well-designed preschool show?
Have children really been shown to benefit from educational shows?
Notes     132
Could the Right DVD Teach My Child to Speak, or Better Yet, Become Bilingual?     135
What exactly leads to language development?
Will foreign-language videos give my children an edge?
Notes     149
Can Electronic Media Enrich My Child's Vocabulary?     151
At what age can a video make the most difference?
Under what conditions do children learn words from TV?
Notes     170
Could This Program Teach My Child to Be a Good Person?     173
Is there any evidence that videos can inspire good character?
How are TV, pretend play and good behavior connected?
Notes     191
Is Interactive Media Worthwhile-or at Least Better Than TV?     193
Are screen-based toys of any use to babies?
Is educational software a good idea for preschoolers?
Notes     213
Will Screen Time Make My Children Fat?     215
Are there real connections between TV and obesity?
Does the location of the TV matter?
Notes     231
How Do Real Families Make Smart Media Choices?     233
How do they cope with siblings? sickness? single parenthood?
What are some examples of limits that stick?
Notes     252
Epilogue     253
Movie Review Web Sites     255
Web Site Reviews of Interactive Media     257
Resources on the Use of Electronic Media with Children Who Have Special Needs     259
Acknowledgments     261
Bibliography     263
Index     275

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