TV poor substitute for storytelling, expert says

JAKARTA (JP): Television and video are fast replacing the traditional bedtime story for toddlers, but they are a poor substitute to parents in stimulating creativity and intelligence, a pediatrician said yesterday.

Jimmy Passat of the University of Indonesia's School of Medicine said reading books to children is becoming a thing of the past as parents become too busy with work.

Television and video have filled the vacuum, with all the attendant consequences, he said.

Television programs discriminate between age groups and they do not create the emotional ties that are established when parents read books to their children, he told a seminar entitled Preparing Intelligent and Creative Infants.

Besides this, most children's programs on Indonesian television are produced abroad and reflect foreign cultures that often demonstrate violence, he said.

Many parents underestimate the ability of children to grasp and understand what is being read to them, Jimmy said.

"Reading to infants or children before they sleep is a very good way of stimulating their brains. The stories stimulate the ability to acquire language, counting and encourages the imagination.

"The habit of stimulating children's thoughts should start early. At two years, a child's brain has the same capacity for absorbing information as an adult's" he said.

Continuous stimulation will lead to intelligent and creative children, while failure to give normal stimulation will prevent them from reaching their full potential, he said.

The seminar, jointly organized by the Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation and PT Indofood, was opened by Kumara Rai, the Director General for Community Health of the Ministry of Health.

Other speakers included Ediasri T. Atmodiwirjo, a staff lecturer at the School of Psychology of the University of Indonesia, and Benny A. Kodyat, the Ministry of Health's head of Community Nutrition Directorate.

The development of a child's brain depends on genetic and environmental factors, Jimmy said.

Genetic factors are inherited and cannot be changed, while environmental factors determine whether the genetic factors will develop or not.

"It is the task of parents, teachers, society and the government to create an environment supportive of children's growth," Jimmy said.

He warned parents against forcing their children to overwork. "They will suffer from stress, and hate it," he said.

Parents should not enroll their children in school earlier than they have to because it might deprive them of their childhood or force them to work above their ability, he said.

Parents should not be too restrictive because children, with their high curiosity, like to explore their environment, he said.

Setting examples is far more preferable than giving advice to children, he said. (ste)