No TV before school?!

My twin girls are 7. We banned TV before lunchtime back in February, after the half term had meant they were watching from first thing in the morning, then becoming unable to play their usual creative, small figure games. Prior to this they would come down first thing in the morning and put the TV on on school days and weekends. I found they are generally much more pleasant to be around, they get bored a lot less easily, argue less and are much more creative. We dreaded it at first but it turned out to be a great choice for our family. And yes it means they get loads of toys out before school (which then don't get tidoed until bedtime) but for me it's worth it.

Same here. Never had tv on in a morning before school. Never while eating either. Screens are not good for growing children.

Personally I have a no tv before school rule - it gets their brain in the wrong zone to learn.

I think no tech is a reasonable rule. But I think TV isn't as bad as tablet/phone/laptop. A bit hypocritical of them also given that as soon as it's wet break or a 'fun' day they put a movie on.

I'd adhere to no tech, but personally, I think TV is OK. Mine tends to play with it on in the background anyway.

I remember when reading the back of the cereal box was our only entertainment in a morning.

A few people have said something similar, but my four-year-old is currently waking up at 5:30 before school at nine. I’m sorry but I cannot cope without the iPad. I hand him actually iPad with night garden on and we go back to bed for a bit. We have no family support nearby, and I think we would’ve been tearing our hair out without a bit of screen time on the morning.

He is absolutely fine. If you have a child that wakes at 7 am then it’s not a problem. But if they wake up at 5 am, I’d challenge anyone to try and entertain a child for four hours before working a full-time job.

I never did it. My mother always had the TV on for her benefit when I was a kid, but it irritated me in a way that a radio didn't (the two together - three if you include the second radio ten foot away from the first playing a completely different station), so I was in a foul mood with the racket from the moment I got downstairs.

DD2 would be a pain in the arse being made to turn a TV off that somebody else had switched on to go to school and DD1 would be incapable of navigating the complex requirements of putting both socks on and getting breakfast from her bowl to her mouth if there was the sound of a TV in another room.

I'm absolutely in favour of quiet to start the day as a result.

My DC are in their 30s now , we had either Breakfast news on TV or Radio 2
They survived

I’m a teacher. Year 1. No idea who watches tv before school and who doesn’t. My dd can watch a little after she gets dressed. It is a great incentive to dress quickly. Do what works for you. Obviously hours of tv a day isn’t good but only you can decide the right amount for your children.

So sick of screen time debates. I grew up with tv (90s kid) and it didn’t affect me. Trust in parents - if a kid wakes up super early let them watch tv. The demonisation of screen time does my head in - the thing we teachers do notice more js those who have slept and those who have eaten well that am. We have tv time because I struggle as a neuro divergent mother and it gives me a much needed break therefore making me
a better mum.

My son watches CBBC before school 🤷‍♀️
Don’t see the problem. We manage to watch most of the Deadly 60 before we have to walk to school and he has learned quite a bit about animals watching that.

My mornings would be a shit show without it. No TV before he is ready is our rule. So we read a book with breakfast and then he gets ready. I can then get ready without added pressure and stress. He's 6 and sometimes will play and sometimes won't. We generally walk or scoot to school. If I got that message I'd ignore it unless it suited us on some days.

At 5yo my youngest would naturally be up from around 5am. So 4 hours before school starts. We watched the Nativity film once before school 😅 Absolutely no otherway me or DH could have entertained him quietly enough not to wake the older children without TV.

Then there was a decent period of time I had to work at home from really early before school. Kids watched TV because I needed them doing something where I could work quietly. Not ideal and I left that job when I could because I know using the TV as the babysitter isn't good. But neither is not paying your mortgage so 🤷‍♀️

Not everyone's household looks like the middle of the bell curve for lots of reasons.

Meh, I grew up watching kids TV every single day before school, so I don't get all the angst and drama over it.

As long as you can get out of the door on time, who cares?

My eight year old gets up every day at 5am. If the school are willing to send someone to my house to occupy him until it's time to get ready for school, then they can dictate whether or not he watches TV, but otherwise they can mind their own beeswax!

No TV in the mornings here. We’re getting ready / eating breakfast/ reading & doing homework…

Take their advice definitely, there will be people who try it and it works wonders , do the best for your child and help the teachers , as they have them all day.
You could always sit your child down with some special books or listen to a story CD .

It's none of their business. DD7 occasionally watches it if she wakes up early during the summer months but most of the time she doesn't because she already messes about enough as it is. But that's my choice and not something I'd allow the school to dictate unless it was causing specific issues for her.

I've never allowed screens of any kind in the mornings. The kids are 10 and 13 now and don't question it. I think it probably saves us a lot of battles with getting up and out! As it is I have to drag them away from books which is bad enough....

Re representative households, I'm a single parent and don't have some kind of Guardian lifestyle supplement existence. I just can't imagine screens making anything easier.

We don’t put tv on in the mornings during the week, mainly as we don’t have time! Eldest sometimes reads a bug club book on the iPad while I’m dealing with younger. Could always try not putting tv on and see how it goes?

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing Yes I think this just shows that moderate TV is perfectly healthy, different timing and routines work for different families, and schools really shouldn't be telling parents what to do!

I wonder....
Does massive TV screens make a difference?
I hate the really big TVs that are attached to the wall. Some of them practically take up the whole wall.
That must be very over stimulating and probably does affect children in some way.
We had a small little portable TV when my daughter was at the Milkshake/Cbeebies age. Our replacement TV (about 10 years ago) wasn't much bigger.
Maybe it's the massive screens that cause issues not a 5 minute episode of Bluey.