TV Can Be a Good Parent

Ariel Gore
  As a single working mother, Gore defends television and thinks that it can be a good parent. She is surrounded by a host of problems and she cannot be a stay-at-home mother. She shows how TV can be useful for working mothers like herself who cannot spend sufficient time for her children. When she needed time for herself, she found the TV programs like “Big Bird” and “Barney the Dinosaur” a better parent than herself. The TV has been a helpful co-parent.

She cites American Academy of Pediatrics(AAP) report that states she is doing her daughter an injustice every time she lets her watch TV, babies and toddlers need direct interaction with parents for healthy brain growth and for cognitive skills, exposing young children to television should be discouraged. Gore analyses the report critically and defends herself. She admits that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interaction with actual people. However, she disagrees with the view that children should not be exposed to television. She thinks that sticking them in front of the TV all day and all night should be discouraged but TV watching kids don’t interact with their parents is a false assumption. She also criticizes AAP’s view that young children should not watch TV at all. She disagrees with the pediatricians’ view that TV is not the best learning tool and it cannot be interactive. She is not ready to accept the assumption that watching kids don’t interact with her parents.

 Gore claims that she can balance watching TV and reading to her daughter. She is careful to teach her daughter critical thinking while watching the TV and she can enjoy some private time for herself when her daughter is watching the program. She still reads to her but thinks that a thoughtful mother needs an electronic babysitter.


  She also finds AAP’s new policy impractical because it assumes that all mothers can be stay-at-home moms and they all have partners or other supportive people who will look after the kids when moms are out. Gore also cites the television executives’ view about the new policy. She agrees with them that instead of attacking shows that try to help children, the pediatricians should warn parents that they should be selective in their programs when kids are in the room. Cable stations offer many programs for kids like Nick Jr. that specially target the preschoolers with the slogan “Play to learn”. They also claim that a child is using cognitive skills in a fun setting manner and it’s interactive. Children are not just sitting. Gore is convinced that TV has much to do for the children.

  Finally, Gore shows her practical wisdom by saying that TV is not the greatest thing in the world for little kids or for anyone, and she is not proud of watching TV programs. Besides, she thinks that TV highly promotes commercials. However, for a single working mother with insufficient earning like her, various programs for kids are very friendly and TV is a good parent.