No TV before school?!

My DSS (nearly 7) has his switch to watch videos in the morning and he has that before he gets out of bed, then it’s up breakfast and dressed. It helps him regulate in the mornings as they can be difficult (he’s neurodiverse) but I think what helps is we have a 20 minute drive to school where we play pretend games like aeroplanes or cars so I genuinely think that helps switch his brain on as it’s purely using imagination.

Well it’s entirely up to you - it’s just advice. But good advice imho.

Dc watch tv while eating breakfast here

Mine get up at 6-6.30 they’re allowed TV whilst we eat breakfast etc. It usually goes off half an hour or so before we leave and there’s breaks like going upstairs to dress or when they play instead. Sometimes they start to play and it goes off. This morning they played outside for a bit before school. I’ll be honest I never considered it being an issue. I will reconsider after this thread though.

Mine has never been interested in watching TV so it’s never even an issue.

However, just getting them up, dressed, breakfast then teeth is hard enough so god knows when they’d even have time to watch TV even if they wanted to? 😳

My 5 year old som watches TV in the morning whilst he eats his breakfast probably around 20 minutes, then once he’s washed and dressed he typically plays with his toys/lego whilst waiting. Never done us any harm 🤷🏼‍♀️

I agree with the idea, I think music or radio is better, but it’s not the school’s job to tell you this unless it’s seriously affecting behaviour (which I assume it is or they wouldn’t have said it). I think we’re only just now seeing the effects of toddlers with tablets and 24/7 parent access to kids content, so I can imagine it’s a shock for some reception kids that there’s no Bluey allowed at school

I can't remember if was the Big Breakfast or another show but I have a vague memory of at about half 8 the presenters pretending to do something really dull and boring as a "you need to leave now for school/work" skit.
I used to do the exercise thing on TV am with the Green Goddess (was it?) when I was about 9 years old.

I don't think anyone needs to invoke the HRA, unless the school are proposing to expel or arrest kids who don't comply...

That's what we do - DC (5 and 7) can have some TV if totally ready for school - some days they aren't, so don't get any.

We've found it's a great motivator to reduce the faffing, also when we banned TV completely they would just start some complicated game with their toys that actually made it much harder to get them out the door on time.

I don't think you're being unreasonable. Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 states;

"Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."

Radio here, no tv

I always watched the big breakfast before school.....

I would give it a try and ask the teachers if they notice a difference. It's a small thing to just turn it off and if it helps them at school why not?

We dont have it on because we go to breakfast club and so its up, dressed and out the door in 45 mins. We'd all rather have longer in bed. However, if it works for you, carry on. Schools can give advice but they cant dictate what you do with your own children in your own time.

In this house they have to be clean, dressed, fully ready before watching any devices.

I tend to agree with this but don’t think the school can actively make you do this

Definitely no TV before school!

I’m in a school, we would have no idea which kids have watched TV in the morning and which ones haven’t. I have the breakfast news on in my house as we’re all getting ready, so I’m probably a bad parent for letting my kids see the news. If watching tv clearly impacts your child and stops them from preparing for school, then obviously you would keep the screens off. Otherwise, make your own decision.

We are a "a TV on as background noise" family, and early risers so plenty of time for telly and 2 or 3 breakfasts. As the TV is on a lot they don't complain when it goes off. It's how I grew up too, still did well at school.
We do have an almost 20 min walk to school which I'm sure helps prepare their brains.

DS will watch a bit of tv while he eats breakfast. I guess it feels normal because I have fond memories of watching cartoons as a kid before school. He has no siblings and DH and I are getting ready for work ourselves, and our mornings run very smoothly.

He does well at school, but I would give no-screens a go before school if they suggested it. In fact DS would probably accept it better if I said it came from school rather than just me! DH and I have the radio on in the kitchen so I’d probably suggest DS listens to an audiobook or something.

We were very strict about this until the DC were a bit older.

I think there's a difference between watching 10 mins of a gentle film vs an hour of youtube

We have a rule which is when DD (5) is dressed, breakfasted and completely ready for school then she can watch CBeebies / CBBC for 15 mins or so before we leave. Nothing streamed allowed, just whatever is on live TV. Her older brother goes on Mathletics / TTRS once he’s ready and he’s done the dishwasher.

I can understand the school’s rationale but it works fine for us. It helps to keep things calm in the morning when we’re trying to get ready to get out of the door for work.

I couldn’t get worked up about this. You parent how it works for you. My dc can watch tv if they want. One of them never does. One of them does some days, but not always. The one that watches tv is definitely the one that doesn’t struggle with paying attention or settling into school and getting on with work.

I cannot imagine the school has any accurate way to gauge who is watching tv or not (I bet the so called ‘good’ kids from the ‘naice’ families simply say no if asked if they perceive it’s not socially acceptable). I also imagine, based on what I’ve seen at our school, that teachers and school staff have bigger problems to deal with that if Susie watched tv that morning. There are kids wetting themselves and some trying to climb the school gates to get out and some sending harassing racist group chat messages. That’s not because anyone watched 15 minutes of Bluey in the morning. 😂

It's not really the school's place to try and say what you can and can't do in your own home. It might be causing an issue in school so generic questions or advice might be acceptable. You still do what suits you and your family though.

That said, we never had the TV on in the mornings when my three were growing up. Didn't see the need and everyone got out of the door faster without.