do you think watching too much television is bad for children?

Question

my children do'nt watch too much tv,i allow only to when their fave prog comes on.

Answer 1

What is 'too much'? One person's 'too much' might be one hour a day - another's might be five hours a day. You have to be led by your child - and, to a certain extent, yourself. We all know that we have days where we ourselves need to allow children to have the T.V. more than others - and yes, we might feel guilty about it - but it doesn't make us bad parents. It is better to have a parent who is less stressed than a parent who is stressed and not really engaging in quality time with their child. However, that does not mean that I think it is a good idea to let a child vegetate in front of the T.V.. I allow my little boy to choose three programmes a day. He then acts as though it is a treat and a privilege - and it becomes a good tool to encourage good behaviour. He is at risk of losing this privilege if he misbehaves. We shouldn't demonise TV though. I think it is a fantastic learning tool - even when children are very little. It encourages children to learn about narratives - think about the skills it might take for a small child to follow the story line of an advert - and these skills can be exploited by parents - in reading stories etc. to their children. They learn about beginnings- middles - endings. It's great! The thing about TV is that it's the way that we as parents think about it and use it - if your kid watches a lot of TV - then watch it with them and talk about it. If you feel guilty about letting your kids watch telly while you get dinner on or tidy up - then don't!

Answer 2

It's clear from the wording in your question that this is a subject close to your heart "too much"!

I would say so - I have a 6-year old boy and a 2 year old girl, neither of whom sit watching TV all day long - my son goes to school full-time, and is allowed to watch a couple of his favourite progs when he gets in from school, while his tea is being made - my daughter watches a couple of kiddies programmes on occasion, but she and her mum tend to be out and about socialising all day, every day, interacting with a wide range of other people and children of all ages- she is now a very outgoing, confident little girl who will always initiate a "conversation" with new people (she's only 2, so isn't especially fluent just yet), with much enthusiasm & gusto. My boy was the same at that age, and now mixes very well with both old friends and new acquaitences.

We always do something "outdoors" over the weekend, whether that's taking the horses out for a hack, or me and the boy going fishing or building "camps" in the fields.

There's always something more beneficial to be doing than just watching the telly day-in, day-out. Children should be encouraged to appreciate the wider environment from an early age.

I guess that we're lucky, living in the lovely English countryside instead of a grim inner-city housing estate- there's always somewhere we can go!

Answer 3

Too much of anything is bad.
Television is a tool It's HOW you use it that matters. It's not a baby sitter, but it can be stimulating and useful in various ways. I always try to watch with my son and talk about the programme that way you can be sure of the content and reinforce the educational aspects. There is also a place for entertainment and much is learned through fiction. Dramas can allow children to explore ideas and emotions in a 'safe' way. with older children it can open up the conversation on more sensitive topics like sex or drugs. Of course this does take time on the parents part but children need time. If you haven't time to watch with them its often better to steer them into other activies. I'm personally very doubtful about TV for the under 3s and we also have the rule that if the TV is on we sit down and watch it There is a danger that it can become a background noise which the children just stop noticing. This makes it more likely that they won't be ready to listen and concentrate in other situations too.

Answer 4

Television is a tool It's HOW you use it that matters. It's not a baby sitter, but it can be stimulating and useful in various ways. I always try to watch with my son and talk about the programme that way you can be sure of the content and reinforce the educational aspects. There is also a place for entertainment and much is learned through fiction. Dramas can allow children to explore ideas and emotions in a 'safe' way. with older children it can open up the conversation on more sensitive topics like sex or drugs. Of course this does take time on the parents part but children need time. If you haven't time to watch with them its often better to steer them into other activies. I'm personally very doubtful about TV for the under 3s and we also have the rule that if the TV is on we sit down and watch it There is a danger that it can become a background noise which the children just stop noticing. This makes it more likely that they won't be ready to listen and concentrate in other situations too.

Answer 5

Watching television per se is not bad for children. Some of the people I know who have incredible general knowledge or specialised interests are avid television watchers. However it is really important that children learn other skills too. Communication and conversation for example (screaming insults at the ref on tv doesn't count). Also time to be creative/reflective/inventive. Which means downtime when they are bored enough to find out something interesting to do by themselves. These are all vital life skills. In our house we have a no screens (ie tv and computers) rule between 10 & 5 during the day during school holidays. (and none of my teenagers are up before 10!). Also I don't like it when they try to entertain their friends by just sitting watching the tv. However I do think you can get too strict - everyone has a right to enjoy a little leisure time when they can do whatever they like (...within reason!)

Answer 6

There are alot of tutorial television programming.... My youngsters watch some, perhaps more beneficial then some would enable, yet they actually have busy lives, they want down time too. They play out doorways alot, continually in the pool, get solid grades, and do their chores, So i see no longer some thing incorrect with some hours of television an afternoon, My youngsters watch more beneficial television in the course of the summer then in the course of the school 3 hundred and sixty 5 days because they basically dont have time.... My youngsters are 15 and six, and ar enthusiastic about lots of activities. Why no longer enable a newborn be a newborn !!! Saturday is continually their day to chosen what to do, in the adventure that they chosen to observe television ok, yet lots of the time they basically look ahead to slightly. they are outside through the pool atleast 4 hours an afternoon, and driving motorcycles for yet another 2 atleast. They both have television's of their rooms, my son activates MTV at the same time as he cleans his room thats oftentimes they in trouble-free terms time his is on, till he had important surgical operation and couldnt flow for 3 weeks, then he watched alot, now he's ill of television . My 6 year previous daughter watches it very little or no. They perfer the livingroom. from time to time in case you dont make a huge deal of it neither will they. i imagine its a crock for a mom and father no longer to enable the newborn watch television yet they sit down on the computer 0.5 the day..... If the newborn doesnt want to observe newborn shows, why do the mummy and father want to be on a pc? on the church issue..... no longer all mom and father chosen to take their children, it is type of their decision to make. in case you interfer too a lot the daughter in regulation will resent you and could limit you from the children im particular that isnt what you want....

Answer 7

I think that 20mins of tv 3 times a day is enough for a small child with the exception of a dvd once a week as a treat/ Young children need to develop and learnt new things and so putting them infront of the tv all the time wont achieve that. Kids need fresh air and varied activities such as painting, drawing, baking and playing in the park and with friends. Visits to the farm and the pond to feed the ducks are all great activities. In the summer picnics also go down well and are good for all the family.

Answer 8

Watching too much television by themselves is not good. But depending on the age of the child they sometimes only have a short attention span anyway.
If you watch tv with your child and enjoy their programs with them then they learn what sort of things are good for them and not. When my son was small the highlight of our day was watching Sesame Street and joining in with everything they would do. Chlldren often will take themselves away from the set to do something else, they are not as stupid as some like to make out. But I have seen some parents shouting at their kids to watch tv and not bother them, we are the carers and we need to look out for them this is when the problems start.
Given constructive information and access to other things to do I dont believe the majority of children are spending too much time becoming couch potatoes.

Answer 9

Between the ages of 6 and 11, I probably watched 4 hours of TV a day. I honestly learned a lot from it, because we didnt have cable, and I watched educational stuff. Children under the age of 4 should have limited TV time, and it should only be educational and healthy stuff. But honestly, I think I turned out all right. I was always 2 or 3 grades ahead in my studies, and with only a highschool education, my IQ is that of a PhD graduate. Not trying to brag, just trying to prove that couch potato kids can turn out ok, lol.

Answer 10

Watching TV is not the best because at younger ages kids or teen don't know what is good for them to watch and sadly the bad things has more attraction that good ones.
Excess of every thing is bad. there are different aspect of development of personality like Mental, physical and life skills. The third one has the most important. the this comes partly from the earlier two. Watching too much TV and not much of physical activity and interaction with others is not good for learning life skills the most important.

Hope this will answer your question
Cheers