Kid TV time

[kristacecilia]

I find the less TV my kids watch, the better behaved they are and the less bored they are.

If I let them watch TV everyday or on any sort of regular basis, they immediately want to watch TV whenever they are bored, and they will throw tantrums or other such innappropriate behavior frequently throughout the day. If, instead, they are encouraged to play, read, be outside, or other such activities, they are rarely bored and their behavior is much better.

This is not limited to the TV, but all screens- computers, the Wii, all of it.

So I try to reserve the TV for sick days, days with very bad weather, or as a special treat once or twice a week- usually on the weekends as a family or Saturday mornings so Dad can sleep in. They probably watch 2-3 hours of TV per week, all DVDs. We don’t have cable, just the rabbit ears and we only get a couple channels.

 

[flyingfish]

I watched a lot of TV when I was a kid, but I watched mostly educational documentaries either about science, nature, history, or culture. I think watching them was pretty valuable in terms of its educational value, as it’s probably a lot easier to get a kid to focus on an exciting program about say dinosaurs than getting them to read a big book about dinosaurs.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

My kids are required to ask before turning on the TV. When they were younger, they only watched specific shows or videos. Now they do occasionally watch TV for longer periods, but they are busy enough that they simply don’t have time for endless hours of TV. We also never have the TV on unless we are watching something (it doesn’t just get turned on) and we only have one, so everyone watches the same thing or you don’t watch at all.

 

[jwashu]

We have 4 TVs (2 HD and 2 standard) the boys have 1 in their room and their playroom. We also have 4 Gaming PCs and an XBox360. I have 4 sons - 7, 5, 3, and 1.

I don’t limit their TV as long as their chores are done and their behavior is acceptable. There are some shows that in general are just stupid, like Sponge Bob but at times entertaining. However there are a lot of shows which are very educational, I haven’t barred any of my children from watching shows like Dora, Deigo, WonderPets etc… every morning if they want to before school.

My first grader behaves well at school with your normal silliness from time to time but nothing bad, he reads on a 3rd (almost 4th) grade level, has done well and placed in some local Chess tournaments this year, is an active Cub Scout and has made all A’s so far this year and can discuss in detail most of our Catholic Faith.

My 5 year old starts Kindergarten next year and while not as advanced at reading he has phenomenal artistic ability, also enjoys playing chess, is above average for his age in all areas.

My 3 year old will start K-3 next year, he can already read some words, knows all the colors, letters etc… he can boot a PC, log into the internet and find games he wants to play, download them and install them on the PC. He has also memorized a complex password of characters and numbers so that he can log on to EverQuest2 and roam around the world and actually plays a few low level characters in areas with no humanoids to fight.

My 1 year old is well… he just one and could care less about the TV, games or anything else except for a few of his toys right now.

My point is this… TV, Video Games etc… can be very educational in moderation and under adult supervision. My wife and I both work full time and my hours are usually 50+ at LEAST. However I can often do some of those from home once the kids get to sleep and therefore I don’t miss my time with them. Yet when we finally get everyone home, a little TV time while they are playing or the few minutes they are calming down before bed is just fine.

Without it your children will probably miss out on some good educational opportunities from the History Channel, HistoryI, Discover, NatGeo, EWTN etc…

We have definitely included technology into our household and in my opinion, my children have definitely benefited from it.

MOST importantly though, our children are our life… TV, no TV whatever… if you are with your children and actively engaged they will benefit from whatever resources you choose because you will be a part of that resource.

A guy came to our parish last year to talk about the EVILS of TV… in just about every study he used as proof he had the same extraneous variable unaccounted for… parental involvement. I would never be one to say, don’t have a TV or turn that thing off… rather I would say, sit and watch it with them, talk about what they are watching, and encourage more education shows when they do watch.

Joe

 

[FrenchGwen]

i don’t have kids either but I do agree the less TV the better.

I grew up watching taped TV shows and movies that my parents picked, (stuff that was good for all ages.) I think that’s one good way of doing it.

Totally with you on that one. We didn’t get a TV at home until I was 7, and even then we only watched videos. When a good film went on, my parents taped it so we could watch it at a suitable time, as the rule was: no TV, ever, on weekdays;
I’m so happy it was so !! We all had the opportunity to develop into real bookworms.

Tv time always remained rare quality time, but thank god we had much other family quality time : winter Sunday afternoons were spent playing boardgames, cards, jigsaw puzzles, all together.
To my opinion, TV is just soooo easy, it’s so easy to just use it as a babysitter, and many families rely on it for educating their children. Of course it’s more demanding to spend time playing with one’s children than just putting them in front of the TV, but to me, this is just part of my job as a parent. Moreover, in time, my children will have LOTS of siblings to play with, so there will be no need to look for a “screen- substitute”

DH and I don’t even have a TV right now. We’ve got our laptops to watch DVDs rented from the local library, or we watch TV shows online. I reckon it will remain so a loooong time, even when children are born.
I can see from when we go into cafés where a TV is on how a TV can affect a couple’s communication. Whatever junk is on, it just can’t help diverting some of our attention from what our spouse is currently telling us. I won’t, ever, compete with a blaring screen for my husband’s complete attention : I’VE GOT THE POWER, I’m the one on the good side of the switch-off button.

 

[shannyk]

My kids are home this week on spring break and it’s been rainy and awful here, and I’ve had a bad cold, so we have been watching more TV than I’d like or usually permit. I now remember why I limit TV time…is is a recipe for BORED kids! It really does take their imaginations and will to MOVE away. We typically do 30 min of TV a day, or one show. Sometimes the shows they pick are one hour and that’s OK too if it’s something we can all agree on. BUT TV comes after more important things like homework, cooking dinner with mom, and chores. Many weeknights the TV never gets turned on at all. When my children do’nt have TV on they play, write stories, do artwork, put on plays etc. When TV is on it’s a chorus of 'I’m bored!" when it’s turned off. I just really hate it. I think it’s also some thing that encourages them to sit still for too long, which isn’t good or natural for kids IMHO.

Regarding cable, I personally wouldn’t have TV without it. There is NOTHING on network TV worth watching IMHO and certainly not for the kids. With cable we have better choices and I have more control (FFWD commercials). We love food network shows, discovery channel, and the NASA channel!!