Your Child and TV

Television is a fact of life that cannot be wished away. These days, you cannot think of a home without a television, and it is rare to find families that don't watch television. Television is no longer considered a means of entertainment only; indeed, it can be informative, educational and uplifting. Nevertheless, there is no denying the fact that most of what is shown on TV is pure nonsense, if not cheap and obscene. As parents, your concern about what your child watches is justified because most of the time it portrays behavior that is quite unacceptable in most social circles, and presents it as normal, or even desirable behavior.

Another consequence of excessive TV viewing is that it consumes quality time that would otherwise be spent in physical activity or social interaction. Watching television makes lazy viewers of active doers. Instead of playing games in the playgrounds, children become passive spectators. It adversely affects healthy social behavior and turns active children into obese ‘couch potatoes’.

There is no denying the fact that television has an influence on human behaviors. This is evident from the amount of money advertisers spend on their tiny, 30-second slices of it.

So, short of throwing the TV out of the window, how can you limit your child's exposure to it to reasonable amounts? Here are some suggestions:

1. The best place to start is from here and the best person to start with is you. Take a fresh look at how much time you are spending in front of the television screen. If you spend 4 hours a day watching soaps, you can’t blame your child for watching too much TV. As a parent, you are required to make some personal sacrifices only to set the right example for your children. Remember, children learn by examples not by sermons.

2. If not TV then what? First for yourself, and then for your children, find alternative activities that are healthy and pro-social. The obvious ones are taking up some sports or hobbies - football, hockey, swimming, karate, dancing, painting, scrap-booking, collecting stamps, coins, or butterflies, model railways, woodworking or cross-stitch - the list is endless. But, yes, you actually have to DO something to make this work! If you really just want to relax and chill-out - what about reading a good novel, or even a graphical novel (aka comic book) while listening to your favorite music?

Take a visit to your local recreation center and/or adult education center and see what programs and classes they have on offer. Make a deal with your child that if he attends one of his choice you will offer some incentive.

3. It helps to discuss the matter with the child and come to an agreement on rules of television watching, such as, no TV before school and during meals. You may even like to fix one day of the week as a regular TV-free day.

4. Another way is to opt for pre-schedule television, which allows you to watch only what has been pre-booked. This way you won’t spend time in channel surfing and the family can together decide what is worth watching.

5. You may want to use television time as a reward for other activities, such as completing household chores, or getting homework done. You will need to draw up some sort of chart to keep track of all this.

6. The best method of getting rid of all TV woes is to watch television together - and then initiate discussion on what you have viewed. This will help your child to evaluate the program and learn something from it. If you discuss the commercials, it will help your children to be less naive and gullible. As a family, you can figure out what tricks the advertisers play to make you want to buy their product. You know that most of the toys and foods don’t live up to the hype created around them.

7. Don’t turn off the television abruptly. Give sufficient warning, and try to time it with the end of the show.

8. You can nip the evil in the bud, so to say, if you stop subscribing to the expensive cable and satellite channels. You can spend the extra money for other activities. This gives you quality time with the family and helps you bond better. A family outing or a home-cooked pizza turns out to be much more fun than watching others do similar things on the screen.

Also, remember not to overdo it. Be selective. Find the good programs and watch them. The rest of the time, do something more active or more sociable. Very soon you will wonder how you and your kids ever found the time to watch so much of it.

Article Source: http://www.adoptiondoctors.com/articles

Dr. Noel Swanson's website provides free expert parenting help - you will also find a free chapter to his highly acclaimed book, the GOOD CHILD Guide. Why not discuss parenting issues with other parents on a parenting forum?
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