Standing so close to the television

[Salazar]

Why do kids do this? I remember doing it when I was a kid and now my daughter does it. Now I finally understand why my parents were so frustrated with me when I would stand inches away from the TV.

 

[ryan]

As I recall, the rule of thumb is that your viewing distance should be 3 1/2 times the width of the screen. If you have a big-screen TV, that might not work very well. But I don't think it's good for your eyes to stand right in front of it. I guess it depends on whether or not you're just staring at the screen for a long period of time. The bright light alone probably doesn't hurt you.

 

[Michael]

My father always told me it was dangerous to stand that close to the television. I have no idea what information he had, but I believed him. I'm the same way with my child, and I tell her it's dangerous. It can't hurt to stay away from anything the screen puts off, can it? Why chance it?

 

[Victor]

Sometimes I think our parents just told us it was dangerous to get us to move out of the way so they could see the screen!

 

[Ed35]

I think kids are just amazed that something that they enjoy is in a box. They want to get closer to the box (TV) to be sure they don't miss anything. I had the same problem with my kids when they were younger.

 

[Babar]

It's probably fascinating to see the colors, shapes, and sounds up close. I think what damages young eyes more is staring at computer screen in a dark room.

 

[ryan]

It helps to focus your eyes at something else every few minutes if you're watching TV or using the computer. The problem is that we become engrossed in what we're doing, so we forget. If your child is standing right in front of the TV, it might mean that he needs glasses. That's just a thought, but it's probably worth checking out if it happens all of the time.

 

[Bear]

Both of my kids do this and it drives me crazy! Between that and the constant pushing of the buttons by my youngest we are seriously considering a wall mounted flat screen!

 

[Lorenzo]

Sometimes I think our parents just told us it was dangerous to get us to move out of the way so they could see the screen!

Now why didn't I think of that? That's a funny way to look at it But seriously, my nephew, who also had this habit of standing inches away from the TV, had to have his eyes corrected. He got cross-eyed because of it! After years of corrective eye glasses and countless reprimands from his mom, my nephew finally had his eyes fixed, but, he still had to continue with the glasses

 

[Clay]

I use to stand really close to the tv, when I was a kid, because I could not see well. Maybe you should check your kids vision. Sometimes, when you are a kid you do not realize about things like vision and hearing problems. So, it is up to us as parents to get kids tested.

 

[Scooter]

A long time ago TVs gave of dangerous x-rays. So, back in the day our parents were right when they told us that sitting to close is dangerous. The cardinal rules of radiation are time, distance and protection. Since our parents didn't make us wear lead vests protection is not relevant. If you double your distance from a radiation source twice the distance you decrees the intensity of the x-ray by 4.

Times are different now. TVs no longer give off dangerous x-rays... unless you have a really, really old one. So, they are not dangerous per say. Now, sitting to close does strain the eyes, and that's not good.

 

[kreso93]

Maybe because kids are curious and they don't know what the consciousnesses may be.