Children and TV

Should you feel guilty if your children spend a lot of time in front of the TV? Probably.

In evaluating what television shows are best for children to watch in terms of social and learning skills, Guernsey, author of "Into the Minds of Babes," writes: "The closer the product comes to simulating the way a good nursery school teacher or attentive parent talks to a young child, the better."

As the author of the article states, this is a chilling conclusion. What children need is parental involvement, not a television babysitter; if we don't like what our kids see on TV, parents need to take control. It is not the government's job to educate us outside of providing schools, or to subsequently limit what we see on TV. This, as I have argued in the past, simply eases personal responsibility but eventually leads to deterioration of civil liberties.

It's hard. Being a parent is incredibly demanding, especially in today's society where both parents will typically need to work outside the home to support a household. But don't we know our own children better than the government? If we can't protect them, then no one can. Playground effects are a concern, sure, but everyone deals with contamination in their life. Good parenting will get kids through it.