Are TV-free kids more focused?

[quelindo]

My son will be three in August and he has never watched TV. People are always commenting on how great his attention span is and how he can really focus on things. (He'll sit through really long books, can draw for a long time, etc.)

It does seem unusual to me, and I wonder if it's just his personality or his TV-free status, or maybe a combination of both.

Has anyone else noticed this?

[UnassistedMomma]

I think it's largely how each individual kid is wired.

My SIL has 4 children age 3 and under (twins x 2!) and they banned tv in the home for them when the older twins were about 1 or so. The older two who are just barely 3 are completely without focus and have no attention span whatsoever. They are wild things!

My 2.5 year old I confess watches way more tv than I would like, but like your child will sit and color or draw or work on a puzzle, or build with blocks for literally hours and be completely content.

My older children also probably watched too much tv but they have always had great ability to focus.

I really do think that it's largely just how they are made!

[boatbaby]

Well this sort of question would raise the hackles outside this forum but...

for us, YES. DS has been able to sit through short chapter books since age 2-2.5 and now will sit through a 150 page book with no or few pictures in one happy sitting. I know his attention and passion for story telling has much to do with a TV-free life.

Not to mention his insanely off the wall imagination and imaginary play and his vocabulary and language use. He loves poetry and often describes things quite poetically.

[Collinsky]

I think a lot of it is personality. My daughter has always been able to sit and paint/draw for extremely long periods of time, and we are the opposite of TV free.

[newbymom05]

My DS is another one w/ surprising focus and we aren't tv free (but would like to be!). He's always been able and willing to sit through long (for his age/development) books, sit still, pay attention, etc and we've always gotten comments on that and on how imaginative he is. I notice that he'll use characters or plots from tv and books equally as a jumping off point for imaginative play.

I agree that it's wiring--supposedly I was the same way as a child and wasn't tv-free either. One of my nephews is completely the opposite and a tv-junky extraordinaire. TV seems to be the ONLY thing he can focus on, but according to the family, his dad was the exact same way.

[zinemama]

I do think it has a lot to do with the individual child.

That said, I am more comfortable with the notion that kids who don't watch tv may be more focused than I am with the idea that kids who don't watch tv are somehow more "sensitive" than other kids.

I mean, just look at the quick flipping of images, hour after hour, that you get with tv watching. That's got to have some effect on a developing brain.

Which is not to say that there aren't plenty of kids who watch tv and are able to focus just fine.

[loraxc]

DD is TV-free and has an amazingly long attention span. (Except for TV! Ha! She wanders off after about 10 minutes if she ends up somewhere where it's on.)

[hopefulfaith]

I think that for my ds this is the case. I absolutely attribute his attention span to this aspect of our lives. Yesterday we read almost thirty books in one sitting. I think that his affinity for books - the thing he can spend the longest time doing - is part of his personality, but I think that his attention span has definitely been developed and enhanced by doing different activities than watching TV.

[Arwyn]

Originally Posted by zinemama

I do think it has a lot to do with the individual child.

That said, I am more comfortable with the notion that kids who don't watch tv may be more focused than I am with the idea that kids who don't watch tv are somehow more "sensitive" than other kids.

I mean, just look at the quick flipping of images, hour after hour, that you get with tv watching. That's got to have some effect on a developing brain.

Which is not to say that there aren't plenty of kids who watch tv and are able to focus just fine.

I think I agree with zinemama; this seems to be another area where TV might have an adverse effect on children, but exposure isn't guaranteed to turn one into an ADHD zombie with the attention span of a gnat. That is, I do think it can be harmful, and that some kids might react very poorly to TV, but it's yet another area of parenting that is about odds and risks, not definites and sureties. Whether TV has an adverse effect on a child's attention span is going to depend on a lot of things, especially the individual child. Of course, no TV means no risk of harm from TV.

[mama_at_home]

Our 3 children have amazing attention spans for their age. All of them love to sit down and have Daddy read Louis L'Amore stories outloud to them, and they are only 2, 2 and 4. My 4 year old will beg me to read the Bible to him-my Bible, not the children's Bible-and he will just sit and listen as long as I am willing to read. I really don't know for sure if it is because of the fact that they don't watch TV, but I'm sure it does help. I do notice a difference in my 4 year old when I see him in groups with other kids-like swim class, story time, etc. He is very focused and interested in what the teacher is saying, while many of the other children are zoning out and squirming.

[jadekat]

Originally Posted by UnassistedMomma

I think it's largely how each individual kid is wired.

My SIL has 4 children age 3 and under (twins x 2!) and they banned tv in the home for them when the older twins were about 1 or so. The older two who are just barely 3 are completely without focus and have no attention span whatsoever. They are wild things!

My 2.5 year old I confess watches way more tv than I would like, but like your child will sit and color or draw or work on a puzzle, or build with blocks for literally hours and be completely content.

My older children also probably watched too much tv but they have always had great ability to focus.

I really do think that it's largely just how they are made!

I totally agree. Both my DC have been watching TV since birth. They both seem to have pretty good attention spans for their ages.

[sbgrace]

I have a child with incredible attention span--way beyond typical for his age. He's always been like that. I've got another with ADD. Both TV free. I really think this is at least partly wired into a kiddo.

[MiaPia]

I definitely think it is individual to each child. We are *not* a TV-free household.

My 6 yo who LOVES TV, and watches it whenever we let him, has a better attention span than me. He will easily sit and read for an hour, loves to write and illustrate his own stories, and builds intricate block towers.

My almost 5-year old DD who doesn't really care for TV is more hyper, and often times can't sit doing one activity for more than just a few minutes.