Babysitting the Kids with TV

Ken Canfield, of the National Center for Fathering, recently pointed to a Kaiser Family Foundation study that reports:

It used to be that parents joked about using the "one-eyed babysitter"--the television--to keep their young children occupied. Today, there are several different one-eyed sitters, and it's less of a joke and more a way of life, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The study, which focused on parents with children from 6 months and 6 years of age, concluded that parents today use electronic media "to help manage busy schedules, keep the peace, and facilitate family routines such as eating, relaxing, and falling asleep."

In a typical day, 83% of the children studied use screen media, and they average just under two hours per day. One in three of the children had a TV in their bedroom, including 43% of the children ages 4 to 6. Thirty-two percent of children in this age range live in homes where the a television is on all or most of the time, and 30% live in homes where the TV is on during meals all or most of the time.

Read more here.