Square Eyes: Children, Screen Time and Fun

(Paperback)

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If our toddlers had been outside playing in the fresh air, speaking words precociously or giggling with delight at something real, we would have happily celebrated this behaviour. But we werent about to admit that our children were excited about television. Being happy about our children watching the idiot box was not something we could admit to. Troubled by what her daughter was watching, and by how this made her feel as a parent, Emily Booker set out to learn more about children and television, listening not only to scholars and experts in the field, but also to children themselves. What she found was that the problem of childrens addiction to screens is actually, in part, a grown-ups problem. Speaking to children about what they watch and why reveals a steadily consistent response: they love to seek out programs that are fun. But their choices are often a source of anxiety for parents, and appear to provoke a need to censure and control the childs enjoyment. At a time when childrens lives are increasingly regulated, and the pressures of parenting are felt ever more keenly, this important book teaches us much about the value of entertainment, not only for children but also for adults. The book would examine the history of just how we have arrived at this place where we condemn the pleasures our children enjoy and seek to protect them from the lurking violence and sexual threats of the ubiquitous screens. And most importantly it examines what children themselves say about their own reactions to television arguably filling in a significant gap in the debate. The contrast between these opposing views is a fascinating part of the book. To support its rather controversial stand on this topic, the book draws on significant research to suggest that we should celebrate rather than condemn the pleasure that television brings children. It argues that encouraging such pleasure in entertainment is perhaps even more imperative in an age where childrens time is increasingly programmed and regulated. Television offers a space for children to have fun to goof off as one 8-year-old boy said to me, or to disappear into an imaginative world. As an 8-year-old girl told me during my research: it means that I can have a little world of monsters or anything. And as the book points out, this essential value of entertainment was celebrated by one of the greatest entertainers of all time - Shakespeare himself.

Reviews

If youve ever suffered from a throbbing guilt-gland when your kids are glued to the screen heres your antidote.

Ground-breaking research into the importance of screen time, and fun, for our over-regulated children. A compelling book.

Author Bio

Emily Booker has spent many years working on childrens issues both nationally and internationally. Her work for the United Nations Childrens Fund, UNICEF, involved leading global projects on childrens television and child rights. Emily has produced award-winning documentaries on children and young people and continues to work for the UN. She teaches journalism and communications at the University of New South Wales.