Here Here! However, can the same be said of the parent who puts their child down in front of the television but tunes it to the
History Channel, or
Discovery or
Animal Planet or even
Food Network? Yes, it's still television babysitting the child but it's semi educational television at least. To be honest, I have learned more from these channels, the
documentaries and study shows that they televise then I did from any of my years in
public schools.
I agree with not putting a
child down in front of inane dribble like
Teletubbies,
Barney or anything
Disney (aside from
Gargoyles, hey we all have our
guilty pleasures). But exposing them to knowledgable, educational programming can be an interesting and involving way to keep them quiet while still imparting knowledge on them. It works even better if parent and child sit together and watch these programs, discussing them and exploring them together.
Editorial note: this writeup bears reference to a now-deleted writeup that criticised parents for using television as a baby-sitter.