TV poor substitute for storytelling, expert says
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)