That’s what I decided when I read that the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages television viewing for children under the age of two.

Predictably, I panicked. Should I be concerned that my son—who turns 2 in September—watches the occasional episode of Caillou or Curious George? I decided to start a little experiment in our house: no more television for Tommy until his birthday. We’re just a few days into it, and so far, so good.

It should be easy, I think. I lived without TV for a little over 10 years as an adult, and we only recently became the grand subscribers to a little thing called basic cable (ever hear of it?) so that I could get a precious high-speed Internet connection.

I’ve managed to limit Tommy’s television viewing considerably—it’s not difficult, considering his favorite activities are reading books and listening to records, dancing as he watches the vinyl spin around on the turntable. But I’m embarrassed to admit that lately, I’ve turned to the TV (public television, at least) for relief more than I should: when I’m on deadline and need to e-mail an article, when I need to cook without a three-foot tall lamprey scooting between my legs, or when I’ve otherwise been driven crazy by whatever fresh horror he’s cooked up as a tantrum.

I know this doesn’t necessarily make me a horrible parent, but I don’t like it. And all of this research on television viewing and children has cemented my decision to give TV a break.

For example, here’s another gem I learned: According to recent research from the University of Massachusetts, published in the July/August issue of Child Development, even background television disrupts children’s play behavior, which, says the study, has “implications for subsequent cognitive development.”

Also, children aged 8-16 months have a significant decrease in language development for every hour of watching so-called “educational” infant videos and DVDs, according to a 2007 study from the University of Washington.

This doesn’t diminish the popularity of these videos and DVDs. According to recent research by Erin Ryan, assistant professor in the department of telecommunication and film at the University of Alabama, The Baby Einstein Company and the Brainy Baby Company lead a $1 billion baby video industry.

Do consumers know what this might be doing to their children?

“One of my favorite quotes from researcher Dan Anderson essentially explains that as a nation we’re exposing our children, beginning in infancy, to an enormous amount of electronic media without any knowledge of how it may affect them in the future—we’re engaging in a vast and uncontrolled study with the youngest generation,” says Ryan.

We do know a few things—take the “video deficit effect,” a term coined by Anderson, a psychology professor at the University of Massachusetts and a frequent consultant on television programming (he helped develop Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues, among many other shows). Basically, the effect is that children under 2 (and sometimes older) aren’t able to learn from a television screen—even though some “educational” programming is targeted to children as young as zero to 6 months. In other words, take the claims of any so-called educational video or DVD targeted to this age group with a grain of salt.

“For reasons not yet known, very young children can learn a skill easily from a live model, but struggle and usually fail when asked to learn the same skill from a televised model,” says Ryan. “So for children under age 2, I don’t see that electronic media can truly be educational.”

Maybe not educational—but at times, helpful. According to the 28 parents Ryan interviewed for her recent doctoral dissertation on this subject, these videos and DVDs can buy a busy parent some time to do a few quick chores or indulge in that rare commodity, basic hygiene.

“The overall impression I got from these parents is that while they don’t necessarily believe that an ‘educational baby video’ is going to make their child smarter, they were probably the safest thing to put on—it probably wouldn’t hurt them, and they just might learn something along the way,” says Ryan.

Ryan explains that the AAP has good reason to suggest a complete ban on screen time for 2-and-unders. For one thing, it’s yet to be determined whether TV viewing is harmful for brain and social development; for another, TV for children this young replaces valuable one-on-one interaction between parent and child, and could lead to a “TV as babysitter” situation.

Alison Alexander, senior associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, agrees that a ban on screen time for very young children is a good idea.

But Alexander, whose research background is in children’s television, is concerned that the suggestion might “perpetuate the notion that television is bad, which is very unfortunate,” she says. “There are so many good things out there…some of good television is like reading a book with your child.”

For older children, the key to making television viewing an enriching experience is three-fold, says Alexander: be there to watch and interact with your child during the show; make sure the show is age-appropriate and suited to your child’s personality; and limit the time you watch.

When choosing what to watch, “you want to find material that engages and delights your child, that has the values you want to instill in your child,” says Alexander.

And if your toddler has watched some television before his or her second birthday, there’s a good chance that you actually haven’t ruined his life. (Whew!)

“It’s probably okay to let your child see television once in a while,” says Ryan. “My advice is to use these tools properly and in moderation, and keep an eye on your own child’s responses to electronic media—every child is different and what might be appropriate for one child may not be for another.”

I asked her if she had any advice for my No TV Experiment. “Personally, I think kids at this age learn more about the world by doing rather than watching, but if you break down and need to stick him in front of Caillou to have a moment to yourself, don’t feel guilty,” she says. “It happens to the best of us.”

Indeed! In the meantime, I’ll keep the experiment going and send a few dispatches, hopefully not the “send help” kind.