John Oakley: TV isn't for toddlers
John OakleyHow impressive that last week Bell Expressvu and Rogers cable waded into the waters of early childhood education. Well, not exactly directly, but through the side door, offering a twenty-four hour, commercial-free TV channel called Baby First TV, aimed at, wait for it, kids fresh from the womb up to age two! Who would’ve suspected there’d be a market for this particular demo? But then one only need look at some of today’s parents.
If it weren’t for commercial breaks and that big floppy couch in front of the tube they might never have conceived in the first place. In whose world is this a good idea; lazy caregivers who see the set as an ersatz baby sitter? Forward-thinking parents whose conceit tells them their toddler will get a leg up in this increasingly wired world? Never mind that the menu of programs, chock full of syrupy soft music and sock puppets, might be as benign as pablum, experts in pediatrics, whose job it is to monitor the behaviour and well-being of infants, are not convinced this is appropriate fare for the formative brain and cognitive capacities. Frankly, they don’t know, the jury’s still out on possible ramifications. Until they figure it out leave television as a medium. No need to make it an ultra petite.
John Oakley can be heard from 5:45 a.m.-10 a.m. EST Monday to Friday on AM 640 Toronto Radio.
No comments:
Post a Comment