Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children from Birth to Age 5 by Lisa Guernsey

The information in this book empowered me to make smart media choices for my son...and not feel guilty when I turn on a video for 30-minutes. That alone made the book well worth reading.

However, if you're looking for all the answers, they're not here...mainly because the research has not been done, ESPECIALLY for children under two years old. I never realized how frustrating it must be to work in the social sciences...in order for a study to be well done, it needs a lot of people (in this case, kids/babies, not the easiest participants, I'm sure), and it needs to continue over a long period of time. So, results are often far from conclusive.

The research that HAS been done is very well presented in this book. Lisa Guernsey herself did not conduct any of the research; she just gathered and presented it in a format that's easy for parents to read. It is very research heavy, so if you don't like reading about study after study, you might not like this book. However, it's not difficult reading. The last 25% or so is fairly anecdotal...sometimes that's all you have to go on when the research isn't there.

Anyway, it presented a lot of good information, and I'm definitely going to be more careful about what Aaron is viewing, especially when he is at someone else's house.

I wrote this review before creating this blog.