(PCM) And that includes Spongebob SquarePants!
According to a new study from the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, children between the ages of 3 and 5 who were exposed only to age-appropriate programs an hour before bed were 64 percent less likely to have sleep disturbances than those exposed to “violent” media, including SpongeBob SquarePants and other popular kids’ shows.
Researchers studied nearly 600 children aged 3 to 5, separating families into one of two groups: One group received a home visit, follow-up phone calls and mailings with coaching about how to make better media choices for their young children; the other group simply received mailings about nutrition.
Families were not instructed to reduce the total number of hours of media use, just to reduce the violent and age-inappropriate content.
“An 8-year-old can watch superheroes and understand that it’s not what happens in real life,” said said the study’s lead author, Michelle Garrison. “But the same content can be overwhelming and scary for a 3-year-old. The idea that people might just explode is scary for a 3-year-old.”
And it showed. “When kids in this age group watched violent or age-inappropriate media, they were more likely to have nightmares, have a hard time falling asleep and wake up during the night.”
It was the opposite when kids watched nonviolent, age-appropriate programming – they were 64 percent less likely to have any sleep issues. Still, no TV is better than any TV. Garrison advises that young children don’t watch any TV an hour before bed.
“Even shows with really good content can still be a problem for sleep,” she said. “When kids are reading a book or playing with toys before bed, they control the pace. But TV ramps their brains up when they’re trying to slow down.”
Keep TVs out of kids’ bedrooms, and try and cut back on screen media, especially at night!
