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Since the first television screens lit up our living rooms scientists have been studying its affect on young children. Now scientists have compared mother-child communication while watching TV to reading books or playing with toys to reveal the impact on children's development. The results show that watching TV can lead to less interaction between parents and children, with a detrimental impact on literacy and language skills.

Reading fluency was measured by a tachistoscope, which flashes a word on a screen for a few milliseconds. The quicker one can recognize it, the more skilled a reader you are. Fluency was higher in Notel in grades 2 and 3 in Phase 1, but dropped back to similar levels with Unitel and Multitel in Phase 2. However, there seemed to be little effect on fluency among 8th graders, possibly because their reading skills had been established by that age. The researchers thought that TV hindered the acquisition of reading skills simply because it took up so much time. Reading is a difficult skill, after all, and doesn't become pleasurable or useful until you're good at it. If TV distracts you from practising it in that crucial stage, you may never get good reading habits. Once you have it, though, TV seems less harmful. An interesting effect was hypothesized by the researchers. TV was originally thought to be a great leveller, since both rich and poor would be watching the same programs and would be provided with the same news and information. Instead, the reverse may be happening. Increased TV viewing in poorer households harms those kids' reading abilities and habits. They thus do less reading throughout school and so have less access to the primary (although far from the only) source of knowledge. The gap in education is thus widened, not narrowed.

According to a recent survey 90% of parents admitted their children under the age of 2 watch at least some form of electronic media. Further, the average amount of TV watched for children aged 2 and under is 1-2 hours a day.

However, based on the findings of recent research, the Amercian Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has made a “screen-free” recommendation for all children under the age of 2. The research was aimed at discovering any possible educational benefits as well as any harm in educational TV viewing for this age group. Here are a few of the key findings from this study: Because “educational” TV programs usually use content and context which does not yet make sense to children under the age of 2, the educational value of the program is void. Unstructured play trumps any form of electronic media in terms of encouraging brain development. Through unstructured play children learn creativity, problem solving, reasoning, and motor skills. Unstructured play also encourages independence by teaching children to entertain themselves. Young children learn best from actual interaction with humans, not TV screens. Even when parents watch TV and videos with their child to aid the child’s understanding, the child still benefits more from live interaction and instruction. “Background media” (such as parents own TV viewing) can also damage child development by distracting the parent and decreasing parent-child interactions. “Background media” can also distract a child during his unstructured play time. TV viewing around bedtime is especially destructive because it causes poor sleep habits and irregular sleep schedules which can negatively affect mood, behavior, and learning. Young children with heavy exposure to media often have delayed language development once they start school.

there is some evidence suggesting that under-twos cannot cope with high levels of stimulation. A study by Dr Dimitri Christakis in Seattle concludes that children under two should not be allowed to watch any television at all, as it can lead to over stimulation and poor concentration skills. Dr Christakis suggests that under-twos who watch three hours of television a day are 30 percent more likely to develop Attention Deficit Disorder. Children who are exposed to unrealistic and unnatural levels of stimulation at a young age, he says, continue to expect this in later life, leading to difficulty dealing with the slower pace of school and homework.