My kids are only allowed to watch 30 minutes of television after bath time each day. granted some days are special (christmas movies, etc) but they would never be inside watching tv when they can be outside.. (obv when they are not sick). I feel like all their friends can talk about is Ben 10 and Go Diego Go. How much television do you allow your children? My kids are 3 (triplets).
2006-12-15 07:41:40 · 16 answers · asked by eric 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
Don't you think that the balance needs to be as little tv time as possible? Children need to be active... Parents complain they don't get enough time with thier children and their kids act up, but instead of playing with their kids, they sit them in front of the TV!
I think its sad to see kids who cry when their parents say no more tv... its pathetic.
2006-12-15 07:48:18 · update #1
Rooney- I am not trying to make other parents feel bad. I understand others have only one child and I am not saying letting your kids watch an hour of tv a day is bad. Like i said, 30 mins a day unless we watch a movie as a family at night so I dont know what you mean by the movie thing. My kids do not need tv to have fun. I personally think that being a kid means- playing outside, swing sets, games, arts and crafts, imaginations, etc. I do not think tv is needed, i mean what did people do before there was tv, when they needed to pay bills or shower? Why are we all so dependant on it?
I do not ask this to make parents feel bad, Its a personal decision. I ask to get an understanding of what other parents think, and to see if im really that out of the ordinary, although I will not change my rules. My kids have no problem with the rules so why would I ask for them to watch more tv? They sleep better without it and play better with out!
2006-12-15 08:24:42 · update #2
Wow that is a tough one... My kids are 5 and 7. My daughter (7) is allowed 1 hour before bed, only if she does her homework without being reminded.
My son is allowed much more during the day, but we limit him to programs we have recorded off the TV and burned to DVD. He is preparing for Kinder garden next year, and we are trying to gear his shows toward preparation. (Most of the programs come from PBS Sprout TV). He is allowed the same hour of Cartoons if he has his room clean before dinner.
For my wife and I, the key has been monitoring the content and make it a reward. Most of the TV watching comes at the end of the day after the sun has gone down.
Great job by the way on encouraging your kids to play outside.
2006-12-15 07:48:41 · answer #1 · answered by La Sombra 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You seem to have an answer to your own question. You think that TV is bad and think you should limit it to 30 minutes a day. Why are you asking then, to make other parents who do let their children watch TV more than 30 minutes feel bad? Personally, I think people who claim their children watch only 30 minutes or 1 hour are lying or not keeping track of time. How do your children watch a movie then, you stop the movie 30 minutes into it, my son would freak out. At 3 yrs old they can watch movies and my son loves the movie "Babe" and "Cars" and those are about 90 minutes.
I let my son watch hours of TV a day. He only watches Noggin or tapes that I put in and they are mostly Baby Einstein, he doesn't sit there staring at the screen, he plays while it plays in the background.
On the other hand I've noticed that those kids who are not allowed to watch TV come over and become zombies glued to our TV because they are deprived of it at home. No one can say one is better than the other as long as the parent is an involved parent and visits the child while he is watching TV and even watches it with them sometimes.
Keep in mind you have 3 kids the same age so many many times there is no need for TV, they have each other to play with, my son is alone if I tried to keep him occupied with activities myself every minute of the day I would not be able to take care of my newborn, clean or cook, pay the bills, or take a shower or anything else for that matter. Every families' situation is different and I do not think that I am a bad parent for letting him watch as much TV as he does because I interact with him a lot other times and he is watching educational programs most of the time.
ok, let me give you an idea of our day, my son is 3 and I have a newborn:
8:30 wakes up, i feed baby and get myself presentable, he's playing with his toys and watching Noggin
9:15 eats breakfast I try to deal with the newborn's fussiness and check our account online and look at the bills from the day before.
He is still watching TV
10:30 He wants to paint, I paint with him for 20 then let him paint independently for 10 more minutes
11:30 I'm feeding the baby again, he's watching TV and playing with his toys
12:00 he goes outside, luckily we have a fence I run out there to see what he is doing every few minutes and I am cleaning at the same time and trying to put the baby down.
1:00 he is in his room eating lunch and watching TV then when he is done gets up and plays
2:00 I go in his rooma nd play hide and seek with him and tickle him for about 45 minutes or so, oh the baby is crying and my husband is calling telling me to take care of administrative stuff having to do with his business or us refinancing the house.....
As you can see my son has a well rounded day, he doesn't nap so he even would need more attention if it wasn't for the TV, a few more activies like play do or coloring and his bath and he's off to bed. He's awake for 12 hours, I can't give up all the things that help our home and finances function so I can keep him from watching TV.
2006-12-15 08:17:53 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
does it really matter how much tv your child gets? I mean I take my son out for about an hour and a hour and a half to play at the park. we come in and he watches tv/plays with his toys while I tidy up the house and get dinner started and do things that need to be done. When I'm done we play on the floor with the tv on... but as long as he is out and playing with kids, and is active.. does it really matter about tv time? I don't understand what the bid deal is... the cartoons on for them are mostly educational and teach them letters, numbers, colors, how to make friends, manners and so on. Its not like they are watching some murder mystery or some adult tv... come on now... why is everyone concerned with tv and games and playstations/xboxes/nintendo... i don't see the problem... you buy games that are fun and help learn... they have that new v smile... that is awesome... i understand about gonig out... having fun playing with others... but tv is not going to hurt your child... its the ones that are always feeding their children junkfood 24/7... and letting them watch tv all day and becoming a couch potato... that is what this world needs to concentrate on... more physical activity and less junk food... our kids are getting obese b/c parents think it is ok to feed them that crap.... why worry about tv? as long as your children play and have fun ... then i don't see a problem... but that is my opinion and how i will raise my children.... so it doesn't really matter
2006-12-15 08:03:04 · answer #3 · answered by sleepyincarolina 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My kids who are 9 years and 19 months watch tv in the evening while Im cooking dinner or my daughter will put in a playstation game and my 19 month old will sit beside her watching her play. On the weekends my daughter watches a little more tv but not too much. We have more fun putting in a CD and dancing around the house.. good exercise too :)
2006-12-15 07:53:52 · answer #4 · answered by Kristin Pregnant with #4 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my son is allowed 2 hours of television the doodlebops and the wiggles for my younger child and for my oldest is allowed3 hours a day whatever movies is on for that night on Disney channel for the Christmas movies we watch together as a family we have a TV chart that is slit for them a certain time and a current amount of times that they get TV and if they been bad then they get an 30 min off their chart so other than special movies Christmas and you know those family movies the youngest get 2 hours and the oldest get 3 hours unless it a family movie or family night
2006-12-15 08:11:38 · answer #5 · answered by magicalpowersofcolors 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends since we live in an apartment we don't trust much for them to go and play outside we rather go to a park at least once a week... Since we both work but they play in the back yard of the daycare with all their friend..AS for TV I have a 6yr & a 2yr.. So either we watch something together or they do it but not for so long but not because I don't allowed them but because thsy like to play at the playroom with their toys but they like to watch Dora, Blues clues Diego, Sesame street, Sponge bob and only educational or fun cartoons fro their age but they also have DVD"s with Disney cartoons and they also watch those but I don't have certain hours because I know they will not be in fornt of the TV for more than 2 hrs... But I think it will depend on how age are your kids and since you are the father you will know how to educate your kids but let them watch tv for a little longer or sit together as familly to watch something fun !!!
2006-12-15 07:58:56 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My kids are only allowed to watch tv on the weekends. Homework comes first. It usually takes them a few hours for that, then dinner, make lunches, shower and bed. On the weekend, how long you play outside will determine how long you watch tv for. So if they are out for 45 min, they get 45 min of tv or xbox. We do change it around due to extreme weather conditions outside.
2006-12-15 07:58:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Never, ever ever positioned a TV in a youngsters room, for such a lot of factors. One is so that they partner ther room with gambling and dozing, now not laptop or TV. They'll stand up and switch it on within the core of the night time whilst you are asleep, even at three and four years ancient. You may not be ready to track what and what kind of they watch. And they are going to throw a have compatibility if you happen to ever difference your brain and wish to take it away.
2016-09-03 15:45:35 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have a four year old, and he is not watching TV on a daily basis.
He'll watch a little bit of TV before dinner every now and then, but I think all told it would work out to be about 4 hours per week (so probably a bit more if averaged out than your kids watch).
The great thing about this is that it limits my TV watching as well.
2006-12-15 07:47:25 · answer #9 · answered by xtral8 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
30 minutes on weekdays, unless there is an educational program or special movie on. Weekends she gets one hour to watch her favorite weekend cartoon. About once a month we have a fun "sleepover" where we rent a movie together and eat pizza and ice cream. My daughter is 4 and a half.
2006-12-15 14:54:37 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋