Babies and media?

[samhain]

my daughter is 5 and has been watching me play games and playing video games since she was 2. I've played games since I was about 10 (25 yrs now).

My daughter is very intelligent for a 5 year old.. in some ways more analytical and perceptive than others her age... ok, she's a freakin' child genius, k? My wife and I of course take some credit for gene distribution, we also take credit for sending her to Goddard, I also give props to games for some things, but I think when you drill down into it, it's just the way she is.

On the other hand my nephew plays video games all day and has the attention span of a rock and could be mistaken for somebody 2-3 years his younger.

I think it all comes down to how you raise your child, genes and education.

How sitting in front of a tv affects your children all depends on what you allow them to see, how you translate it and how they process it.

I don't think there are any physical worries other than maybe eyestrain which may eventually lead to poor vision/eye glasses.

[Methedras]

The only real media we exposed our kids to when they were infants was Baby Einstein.

Don't know how old I was when I started watching TV. I saw Star Wars: A New Hope at the drive in when I was four multiple times though.

My focus is legendary. It's ok I guess. I think depending on the media a childs mind can develop or vegetate.

I would argue that visual media can leave a more lasting mark on a child. The simple reason being that the imaginations of those who create visual media is far more developed, from the perspective of what they can conjure in the form of grisly and violent images, than that of an innocent child.

An extreme example; an innocent child's vision of what is horrific should be far different than Wes Craven's vision of the horrific. I see this akin to something like Monsters, Inc. vs. A Nightmare on Elm Street.