TV or not TV? That is the question....

I have observed for some time a profound psychological effect on children after exposure to an electronic, screen-based device.  This, of course, is not scientifically founded.  (I will add that disclaimer to protect against an obscure defamation law suit for any negative opinions I might now share on the subject.)  Science gains credibility from case studies, and I have case studies times four.  Animation appears to be the primary offender when it comes to possible paralysis of their prefrontal cortex.   The strobe light of pixelated scenes flashing across their fat baby cheeks renders them socially incapacitated for at least 30 minutes after exposure.  The damaged area also seems to affect their hearing of live, adult voices, and the strength of their lower jaw muscles become compromised, as they hang limp under a glazed stare.

I also suspect, with a healthy dose of conspiracy paranoia, that there must be undetected components laced into cartoons brainwashing our children like the White Album of our parents' generation.  This could be the only plausible explanation for the pop culture phenomena we see functioning as Farmville, Instagramming pictures of a dinner plate, or live Tweeting a TV show.  What else could explain the popularity of such senseless behavior?  I'm just saying....think about it.....  Our minds have been breached!

When the kids...okay, the first two or three kids....were babies and toddlers, I really didn't let them watch much TV.  The third and fourth kids pick up more exposure by default, even though I try to hold a strong front.  I didn't want to condition them, or myself, to a crutch for everyday activity.  I refused to bring a portable DVD player with me for errands, eating out, or doctors appointments.  (Remember, this was the prehistoric early 2000's before tablets or iPhones.)  We have had a few crazy moments, certainly.  Kids just really like those small, spinning doctor stools too much....  It takes some creativity on the part of parent. Coloring books might be needed to survive a waiting room or slow service at the local Olive Garden, but at least they aren't plugged into a mind-numbing, zombie device to manage an appearance in the outside world.

At home, I want them to tumble and bumble and even get into things they shouldn't, driven by sheer curiosity and imagination.  It keeps me busy.  It makes me crazy.  But, it's authentic and enthralling to be a witness to their world.  I see a little boy rolling cars and trucks, circling round about himself, racing and chasing in hot pursuit, sound effects included.  I see a little girl coloring...inside the lines.  Total dedication to the art.  The quiet scratch of color against paper.  One page after another, a rainbow of masterpieces donning all 120 Crayola colors, cramping the side-by-side refrigerator with more art than we have magnets to hold them.  I see children at a pink particle board kitchen set, balancing plastic plates of  faux chicken legs and hamburgers stacked with strawberries and pickles and a banana falling to the floor, clanking and bouncing, snatched up with pudgy hands.  I see pea gravel pushed and scooped and dumped with mustard yellow Caterpiller bulldozers and dump trucks, excavating and filling the fire pit under a large shade tree buzzing with mid-summer cicadas.

My sister has a habit of opening her eyes to how toys lie, before scooping them into submission at clean up time.  She points out the dinosaur flying the airplane.  The airplane with no wings, mind you, always ripped off in vigorous play.  We find baby dolls wrapped in bandages, left in the make-shift hospital that was once a bedroom.  One of my personal favorites was the slingshot fashioned from the thick branch of a tree and a pair of size 6 boy's underwear.

It has become obvious to me that a child without television and the same child saturated with television are two entirely different children.  I admit using the TV as a babysitter, from time to time.  Sometimes a mom needs to talk on the phone or paint a bedroom or just drink a cup of coffee without sharing the scone.  But, you must pay the piper, because a funny thing happens when the television goes black.

When I announce the dreaded conclusion to TV time, and the animated scenes die to a vacant screen, they recover conscientiousness and look at me with shock and dismay.  Of course, it's a total surprise because they've tuned out two prior warnings, and now they stare at me, mouths still open, damp with drool collecting in the corner of their mouths.  Three, two, one...they moan in harmony, pleading for more.  But, they're cut off.  Cold turkey.  Ready to play?  No....ready to turn on each other.

They grapple and groan and snip and scrap, until imaginations awaken and boredom fades to the necessity of outside exploration or an adventure into another world altogether.  And, so it goes....unplugged from the flickering, stupor-inducing, flat-screened hypnosis into the 3-dimensional, hi-def world of minds filled with a million storybooks and daydreams.