RESPOND TO THIS DISCUSSION POST MIN OF 200 WORDS 

Durel Young 

Week 2: Media exposure during infancy

Media exposure during infancy has its pros and cons. Some programs help promote vocabulary growth and cognitive skills. Others claim that too early exposure to television can lead to problems in the development of attention span (Galotti, 2016, p. 106), which I feel is not in every case because if the child enjoys watching the program they tend to pay attention more. Playing with your child is impossible because nowadays parents have jobs and even stay-at-home moms have to also tend to the housework and managing bills. The stigma of placing your children in front of a tv screen just to get a little rest or some work done seems to be frowned upon. It is best to have a set schedule like 1 hour of screen time of an educational program that the child enjoys. Other research finds that what children are watching is as important as how much they are watching. For instance, some studies show that preschoolers who watch educational programs like Sesame Street have better academic outcomes in elementary school (The Urban Child Institute, 2016), and all can be done in a healthy time period.

 Researchers on how well infants and toddlers can learn from television screens have mixed results. Psychologist, Rachel Barr with some associates, demonstrated that children ages 1- and 2-year-olds learn less from watching televised models carry out some action than they do from watching the same action model carrying out actions that they do from watching a live model carrying out the same actions called video deficit effect (Galotti, 2016, p. 106), but these results are not firm conclusion because every child is different. I can definitely agree with Galotti, that too much television might be displacing more valuable playtime where a toddler can engage in activities and problem solving for better mental development (2016, p. 107) because nowadays children seem to get hypnotized by these YouTube influencers playing with toys and unboxing toys when they can be playing themselves and broaden their imaginations.

Word Count: 334

References

Galotti, K. (2016). Cognitive Development: Infancy Through Adolescence (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.

The Urban Child Institute. (2016, April 4). Infants, Toddlers, and Television. Urban Child Institute. http://www.urbanchildinstitute.org/articles/policy-briefs/infants-toddlers-and-television#:%7E:text=Infant%20exposure%20to%20television%20has%20been%20linked%20to,to%20attention%20disorders%20and%20sleep%20problems.%2017%2C%2018