It's a constant topic of conversation among parents, caregivers, psychologists, doctors, teachers... how much TV do we let the kids watch? It seems so simple but it can be a constant struggle. I've heard a general consensus that kids shouldn't watch more than an hour of tv a day. Does that happen at your house? I'm sad to say that doesn't happen here. As many fun games we play, places we go, toys, crafts, singing, and all the other things we do... we still end up with more than an hour of tv each day. There's this saying "don't let the tv babysit your kids" I'll be the first to admit I do exactly that. It's not because I'm being lazy and not wanting to play with the boys. It's because there are things that need done and having them underfoot isn't helpful. Meals are my primary weekness, especially dinner. About an hour before dinner I put on a show or movie because I know it will entertain Matthew while I make dinner. We have it on more than I'd like, but I rationalize it with the fact that I never put junk on. We watch Adventures in Odyssey, Gerbert, Brainy Baby, and Seseme Street. I record the occasional Ni Hao Kai Lan, and Chuggington as well.
Educational tv has come a long way... but I probably disagree with a lot of people on what qualifies as educational tv. Almost every show out there puts something in it so that it can fall under this category. I do not like most Nick Jr shows. Yes they are educational.... sort of. And I can't tell you what exactly I dislike about these shows... something about them rubs me the wrong way. We watch an occasional Ni Hao Kai Lan... but it's just because it's the least offensive to me somehow. I don't care for the disney shows either. About the best I can find is the PBS shows. What is it about the others that bothers me so much? Maybe part of it is the commercialization. Not only do those channels have worst commercials they make tons of toys and other JUNK. And that's the last thing you need a kid screaming for in the store :)
I debate about how much of tv is a learned behavior. I think some kids are just drawn to it more than others. Matthew will get so sucked into a show, he can literally sit still for an abnormally long time watching some movie or show. Ian on the other hand could care less what is on most of the time, and gets very angry at certain shows when they are on. He is drawn to shows with music, letters and shapes. Matthew will watch just about anything. I keep wondering if Ian will gravitate towards the vegging out or if he will remain not as interested in what is on the tv. My favorite things to put on are things like baby einstein, not because I have this belief that it will make kids smarter, but because it is simply images put to music.
Anyway... Matthew and Ian watch too much tv. They watch probably a total of about 60-100 minutes just while I"m taking care of them during the day... which doesn't count whatever they watch in the evening with their parents. If it would have made a difference I would have made a new year's resolution to watch less tv... but it's part of life. In some ways it helps me keep my sanity too... it's what entertains me in the evenings, living in a small town, with nothing to do, and no one to play games with. How much tv do your kids watch?
1 comments:
We don't have cable or satellite, so we don't have to deal with the commercials. But my kids watch a LOT of movies. More than I would consider ideal, but like you, I've got to get supper made and have a little time to myself once in a while.
I don't care that it's necessarily "educational" tv. Some of what we watch is, but other stuff is purely entertainment. We love The Incredibles, Bolt, Holly Hobby and LEGO: The Adventures of Clutch Powers. None of those would come even close to being "educational," but we think they're fun.
We do have a hard and fast "no tv in the living room (only dvd player) until school is done" rule. It's just too distracting for the ones still doing school.
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