The Associated Press article spoke of a Boston pediatrician and media expert, Michael Rich, as "forgiving" of this use of television. Rich mentioned that our culture considers television a "benign" influence.

Rich's point is well taken. It's common to find that people believe that watching "educational" programs causes education to occur, however appropriate or inappropriate a program may be for a particular individual. As a teacher of developmental psychology, I've had many a class discussion in which students countered recommendations against television for infants and toddlers by announcing, "My nephew learned to count and learned lots of Spanish words from "Sesame Street". It is, too, educational and good for kids!" But of course the essential question is, "How old is your nephew? Oh, he's five years old?" A five-year-old is not an infant or a toddler, and the educational diet that works for that nephew is not the same as the one needed by a younger child. What I might learn from the History Channel won't work for the five-year-old, and what works for the five-year-old won't work for the toddler-- even less so for the infant.

But lots of people do know this. Certainly, the American Academy of Pediatrics has spent many years recommending against any TV-viewing at all in the first two years, and severe limitations on TV time after that. So how does it come about that home-based child care providers encourage so much TV?

Let's consider the possibility that they do this, not because they think it's "benign" or educational, but because we ask them to do a job that is really beyond the limits of human ability--- to nurture and care for the development of a number of very young children for many hours a day, without any help at all. It's common for states to limit licensed home-based day cares to two infants under 12 months of age, and perhaps three more children between 12 months and school age. It's quite possible that none of these children are toilet-trained, and even that they all need a lot of help in eating. Care providers have a lot more than "watching" to do (I loathe that expression "watch a child", which suggests that a steady gaze alone will result in good physical and mental development). If you've never tried caring for more than one child at a time, use your imagination about this: how and when do you feed them all? How do you keep them clean? What if one or more are crying? When would you find five minutes to play with or talk to an individual baby? For that matter, when would you get your own meals, or even a trip to the bathroom? If you need more to imagine, try considering what happens when a child is sick or injured and you must contact the parent, a physician, or even emergency medical services, while still responsible for the other children.

Add in the fact that when those five children are counted, the caregiver's own children are not included. Add in , also, that the caregiver may be responsible for elderly family members, or providing informal day care for other elderly or handicapped people. If you were the care provider, would you not welcome with enthusiasm anything that would allow you a moment to deal with one child at a time?

Perhaps you ask, why are these home-based care providers taking in so many young children at once? There can be many reasons. One is that they aren't paid much per child, nor do they usually get paid if a child is out sick (as would be insisted on in center-based care). Another is that parents beg popular child care providers to take their children, and it can be hard to say no, especially to a neighbor or relative. Of course, there are a few home-based care providers who simply miscalculate or misunderstand the rules; one woman who attended a class I taught for child-care workers told me she had taken five children all well under a year old, with the goal of caring for them until her own daughter entered school. She was proud of her planning on this, but wondered why she had a couple of "bad babies" who cried all the time.

What can you do if you want to choose a home-based child care provider who will give your child a good environment to develop in? My first suggestion is that you find someone who belongs to a "family day care" or "home-based day care" network. Network members provide each other with information and support, and the network offers training and may help arrange insurance coverage for day care in the home (no, homeowners' insurance doesn't do this). Second, arrange to spend some hours in the home with your child before you make a decision; see what actually goes on there and what kinds of attitudes seem to prevail-- even how much TV is watched, if any.

Finally, let me point out a possible mistake made by some parents. Don't think that when you go to the home, it's a good thing if toddlers there approach you readily and cling to you on your first visit. This is not evidence that the children are warm and friendly because of their good environment. On the contrary, it suggests that they are not getting much support for their emotional development. Do you see that the toddlers are a bit shy with you, hide behind their caregiver, and only gradually respond to you? Great! That's exactly how they should be. They're getting what they need.