Experts tell parents to keep infants from TV

Sari P. Setiogi The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

A number of parents recently complained about persistent decline in the performance of their children in class in their first year of elementary school children.

A psychologist found that children were facing difficulties in concentrating during classes, and after a series of consultations she concluded that the problem stemmed from children's addiction to television.

"All the children have been exposed to TV since they were very young," the psychologist, Mayke S. Tedjasaputra, said on Saturday.

She said education experts in the United States had recommended that infants under two years should be kept from viewing television programs.

"Watching TV could over stimulate infants by colors, sounds and moves. While their nerves are not yet well-developed, all of those give negative impacts instead," she told a seminar on stimulation for children held by Mead Johnson.

Pediatrician Hartono Gunardi supported the thesis.

"The first two years of a child's life is the golden period as this time marks the growth and development of a child's brain. A child needs good nutrition and stimulation at this stage," he said.

During this period, Hartono said, children are in dire need of healthy and positive interaction with their peers and adults to develop good language and social skills.

"Learning to talk and play with others is far more important than watching television," Hartono asserted.

"It is very important to talk with your toddlers as it would improve their verbal skills. The earlier an infant starts speaking, the better intelligence level it will have," he said.

A survey by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) found pre-school children who watched educational TV programs did better in reading and math tests than children who did not watch television. However, for younger children it's a very different story.

Hartono also said until two years of age, it would be better for children to learn only the mother tongue language.

"Teaching infants more than one language at an early age might confuse them," he told The Jakarta Post.

Mayke also suggested that parents refrain themselves from condemning or swearing in front of their children.

"Children are good copy cats. They would repeat the words easily. Children who are accustomed to their parents swearing and quarreling would become aggressive because of the negative stimulus," she said.

Parents are not supposed to abuse their children as well, according to Mayke.

"Children who are abused by their parents would suffer deviating nerve development that would halt stimulus. Later in life they would not be able to think to solve problems," she said.