How much TV do you allow?

[mmv]

i allow my kids (18 months old now) to watch TV. I dont restrict on time.  I let them watch educational DVDs when they are on high chairs for brkfast (so that is @ 20 minutes).  + we also watch TV in front of them.  Interesting thing i noticed is that they now know perticular part of DVD and smiles or claps or move their body as if they are dancing when they see that part.  Also the other day i heard them saying a spanish word from Dora DVD.  So I dont mind them watching it as they are learning from it.  Also when we watch TV in front of them, they play on their own and come to watch TV when there are commercials going on.. God knows how do they figure out what part of the program is commercial?  Also when they find remote somewhere, they press button and look at TV. I think at this age, kids are pretty much into observe and follow mode. So as long as you are not watching or doing anything bad, let them follow you. There is nothing wrong in watching TV as an enetertainment.  There is nothing wrong in using computer for work.  Let them get smart with TV, Comp, Phone, Iphones etc.. We strive them to learn language, math,art then why not introduce them to electronic media as well. Thats my personal opinion.  My mom scolds me to allow them to touch remote or phone, but i tell her dont worry, let thm figure out things on their own.  I dotn know if i m more relaxed parent or what, but i want them to learn everything... 

[Lani Earlybird]

I agree that it's fine to allow kids to get to know electronics. I have noticed a pattern with different kids I've cared for in the past, (this is definitely not across the board or applicable to all) that the ones who generally have less than 2 hours of TV or 'screen time' in a day are more creative in their play and enjoy being outdoors. Of course it can be a handy 'baby sitter' while you need to get to some important work or jobs around the house.

[tattooedmommy]

When I was 2-5 yrs old I had cable and watched a lot of Sesame Street and other kids shows, but when I was 5 we moved and didn't have cable, and lived on 5 acres. We were allowed one show after school while we ate a snack, and then we went outside to play. When I got to go to a friend's house and watch a movie or stay up til midnight watching TV it was such a treat!!! To this day I don't like TV and would rather be outside. I don't think the TV early hurt me in any way, I love to read, I got a 4.0 in school and college, I was always on the honor roll, I was almost moved up a grade...I was always ahead of my class. I wanted to watch more TV when I was 6-18 years old but now I'm so glad my parents didn't let me!!!
 I was definitely imaginative and able to keep myself busy when I was younger because of not watching alot of TV.
 I plan to do similar with my girl...we just watch YBCR now, and I always watch it with her. We also watch short kids songs and educational videos on Youtube.
  We don't have TV at all, my husband and I just watch occasional DVDs and TV shows online after baby goes to sleep.

[mmv]

My husband is 4 pointer, PhD MBA from top school in US, he writes poem , he sings good and he watches lot of TV.  It's not that he is watching discovery channel or anything educational, he watches movies, sports, seinfields, fraiser.  So i dont think watching TV is anyway related to being smart in school.  I agree that watching excessive TV will restrict you from doing outdoor activities.  As long as you are not addicted to that thing, you should be ok..

[Isabeau]

I think that people are right when they say that kids are learning from TV and are little sponges.  My question is not THAT they are watching but WHAT they are watching and with whom.  I posted earlier about a study that I had read that found that kids who watch educational cartoons (like Franklin, Clifford, etc.) tend to be more aggressive with their peers. Some TV shows spend 90% of the show illustrating a bad behavior and then only 10% of the time resolving the behavior (Franklin learns, in the end, that it's nice to share, not to hit, whatever).  Kids don't process the whole sequence but just see 9 examples of poor behavior for every 1 example of optimal behavior (whatever the lesson learned ends up being).  Then they emulate what they see most often from the TV shows that they watch thus resulting in some unwanted behaviors.  No real surprise when you think about it.

Of course it's totally possible to talk to kids about the things they see on TV and to explain why such behavior isn't appropriate! The problem with that is that it's hard to debrief the shows with kids when you're not in the room to see everything that they're watching.  And who wants to sit through episodes of Franklin or Curious George or Clifford or whatever.

If you believe that study, it just saves a lot of hassle and parenting work at correcting unwanted behavior if you limit those types of shows that follow the 90%/10% formula I guess!  I thought that was interesting stuff.

[heyblue41]

We only allow our children to watch 1 hour of tv max per day.  Usually it is much less.  Most often they only watch educational dvd's like muzzy, wink to learn, or signing time.  The only tv shows we watch are Little Bear, Word World, and Ni Hao Ki Lan.  I don't let the children watch shows alone until I have watched with them.  You don't have to pay that close of attention to get the gist of what is going on in the shows.

[Connie Lim]

I will say, I will let my children watch educational programs.  Watching TV programs with leaning objectives behind.

[elementaryesther]

We don't have a T.V. So we don't watch any.

The recomendation to not let you child watch t.v. if they're younger than two is great if you have an only child. But once older siblings are watching I don't know how you can ban the younger ones too well.

I let my kids have 30 mins a piece of time on the computer. I prefer this as computer time is at least spent making choices and interact by clicking and such instead of just zoning in front of a screen. I have a Mac and it has great parent controlls. I specify what websites they can go on and the computer is set to automatically log them out once their 30 mins is up.

I let them have their computer time only after they have had a good lunch followed by one hour of "quiet time" in which they have to #1 be in their room, and #2 they have to be quiet. (they can nap, read, color, and play quietly).

We watch movies once in a while. But not very often, and even then I'm very selective. I'm trying to expose them to "finer" entertainment than just the latest popular thing. We only go to the theatre if the show is free or super cheap.

I also have a soft policy about reading the book version before seeing the movie.

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