There are few ways to get parents confused, fingers wagging and eyebrows raised than to talk about kids and television. Should they watch any at all? Should parents set limits like one hour a day? Or is that too much? Or too little? After all, why can’t kids (like their worn-out parents) just flop down after a long day and enjoy a little down-time in front of the box?

When it comes to our kids, to borrow from a bloke named Shakespeare, TV or not TV; that is the question. Studies have shown that Australian children begin watching television from an early age, with an average of 44 minutes at 4 months building to 2 1/2 hours a day by 4 years. Ultimately it’s for every parent to use their own judgement but sometimes it can be difficult because it seems everyone you talk to has a different opinion.

Some people gravely warn parents not to let their pre-schooler watch any TV at all. But according to experts, if children watch the right amount of the right programs, television can be good for them.

All parents want to do the right thing by their kids, but it can be hard working out exactly what’s right and what’s wrong. To begin with, it’s worth remembering that many of the things we panic about yesterday, we think of as perfectly normal today. Take Sesame Street. When it first started in the 1960s, parents were warned not to let kids watch a minute of it. Today, it’s acknowledged as a true treasure that has helped millions of children all over the world how to read and add up while having lots of fun.

Quality not quantity
Today most people recognise that TV can be a great educational tool. It can teach traditional forms of education such as literacy and numeracy but also narrative literacy - it helps children's understanding of narrative or stories. The more kids watch, the more they understand how sound, vision and editing are used in television, movies and even advertisements. And studies show this makes them smarter, more discriminating adults. And that’s more and more important as our children grow up in a world saturated with media.

But what’s the situation like in Australia today? Should parents be worried or can we breathe a bit easier? Can TV actually be good for kids?

Helen Martin is one of the most highly respected figures in Australian children’s television. She is currently the Early Childhood Producer with the hit show Hi-5, having previously worked in a similar role at the ABC, bringing both Play School and Bananas in Pyjamas to the screen. She is quick to point out just how difficult and complex it is to try and make a TV show that a pre-schooler is going to want to sit down and watch and that a parent is going to be happy about having them watch.

“It takes an amazing assortment of creative people to help us make good children’s television,” she says. “It’s very much a team effort of producers, writers, script editors and actors.

“We try to the very best of our ability to entertain and educate young children and reflect their world and what’s valuable to them through the visual and auditory world of TV. Every word and every image you see on children’s TV in Australia has gone through this very careful process.

“Every day is a new challenge to use TV to charge the imagination of young children.”

And what makes good TV for a pre-schooler? For Helen, it’s all about stimulating and entertaining them but also teaching them about their world.

“We strive to make TV that is educational but at the same time it can’t be patronising or autocratic. Young children learn best when it’s through play, not through teaching. Ultimately, I want to empower children to use their imagination.”

Wise watching

Helen has some good advice for parents about TV and their kids: “I think all parents should sit down with their children and watch some of their favourite shows with them. You can then take some of the ideas you see and use them in your own play time. So you might build a tower from the material you saw or use a piece of clothing you saw, say a cape, to create your own superhero adventure.”

In other words, take what you see on TV and use it in your child’s world.

Helen adds wisely, “Of course, no child should watch hour after hour of TV. And parents should keep a very strict eye on what their children are watching to make sure it is age-appropriate -- which can be quite a difficult job as what’s ok for a 6-year-old may be quite different to what’s good for a 3-year-old.

So it seems that TV can be good for kids, if parents take control and act wisely. It’s up to you to choose the right programs that fit with your child’s age and avoid other material. For example, many people believe the worst thing to show a young child is the evening news with its real-life drama and violence.

The other role for parents is to strike a balance between watching TV and other daily activities like reading a great story book or an afternoon at the playground. And luckily in Australia we have people like Helen helping to produce some of the world’s best television for young children that’s full of fun and helps them explore the amazing world around them.

So next time you hear a pious expert treating TV like it’s a pile of thermo-nuclear waste in your living room, remember they may think they’re protecting your kids today, but they may also be leaving them blinkered in the future. After all, the real expert when it comes to your child, what they watch and how much they watch, is you.

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