The controversy over whether babies and toddlers should be allowed to watch TV continues. At least one expert gives it a conditional OK. Dr. Robert Titzer says that if the programming is simply designed to entertain the youth while parents are off doing something else, than it should be avoided. However, if it is interactive rather than passive; if it encourages verbal or physical response; if it teaches something of lasting value; and if it helps develop language skills, than the programming can actually be beneficial. Titzer warns however that of although this type of programming is out there, it exists in a sea of inferior product, so parents should be very careful in what they put on for their very young children.
TVBR observation: We don’t know what the good doctor would think about something like the Teletubbies, but despite the fact that they could be a strain on long-suffering parents, we know that they encouraged our very little girl to start dancing, something she now studies seriously as a tween. And the Teletubbies also encouraged the practice of giving big hugs, also a good thing. But our little girl is also an avid reader; we did a whole lot of that back then, too.
