to have rules about watching tv.

[BlackBag]

Just like the Good Old Days so far the 5 and 3 year old are unaware that breakfast & daytime tv exist.

Tv is basically an hour before dinner and a DVD on the weekend - for the kids that is, when they're not around I watch it whenever I want .

So I get a bit whining from them in the afternoon and the older one has discovered that other people have tv whenever they want.

AIBU and will my children grow up as freaks addicted to the google box and sadly only be able to talk about Gandpa in my Pocket.

I limit screen time, I think that most parents find it best to.
Mine would never get ready in the morning if the box were on!

YANBU. DH and I had rules about Telivision watching until ours were at least 10.

Surely there is nothing more soul-destroying than constant TV?

I still limit TV and dc are 11 and 14. Can't do much about DP (42) though.

I would happily live without it. (TV that is).

Mine (3yo and 1yo) don't watch any TV at all. I'm not fanatical about it, I just don't think it's necessary, and it's not part of our daily routine so the subject just never comes up. I imagine at some point it'll feel natural to introduce it, but will wait for that to happen (and will definitely limit screen time). They see it sometimes when they're out and about, but don't seem too bothered, and have never asked for it at home. I have to admit, DH and I slump in front of it in the evening though. We didn't watch it before we had kids, but now just sooooo tired....
I know some people think we're a bit odd for this, and one friend even said 'aren't they missing out on the education it would give them' ???!!!! At 3yo and 1yo??? More education from playing, reading & talking surely!! But perhaps I am wrong.

There has been a study done in Canada where they compared children who had watched lots of TV with those who watched none before the age of 2. they ffound that , even adjusting for differences in social class etc, those who didn't watch TV before the age of 2 were doing better academically at age 10 than those who had watched lots!

Can't give any links - heard it on World Service at about 1.00am a few months ago when I was finding it hard to get to sleep!

They watch an hour every day? That's fairly liberal surely.

I have the TV on constantly, but not always on DD's shows.
She's 9 now but never watched much of kids programmes till she was about 5. She does now from coming home till 6, then it's my turn, at weekends we share and we like lots of the same shows anyway.

She's not addicted to it, though I freely admit I am and I had it more limited growing up than she's ever had!

We never have it on in the mornings, and the original rule was not in the afternoons/evenings either on week nights, but now they're older (10 & 13) we sometimes watch something all together after homework's done. At weekends, we don't have a particular rule, but try not to let screens of all sorts dominate.

It's never been a big deal; they watch what they really like but don't expect it to be on all the time.

TV limits are good. There are limits in my home but with exceptions for then DS has been very unwell. I haven't been as strict as my auntie and uncle who allocated each child 2 hours of TV time a day and enforced it. My cousins were old enough to watch sitcoms (they were American) and would sometimes negotiate with mom to watch half an episode of this and half an episode of that.

I brought this up with a friend a while ago, as I said I didnt want a tv in my childrens bedrooms (or mine for that matter)

She said I was nuts, that my children would be the kind who snuck round to their friends to watch TV and that I would be effectively depriving them.

Regardless of that insightful rant from her, I still plan to have TV rules.

I am convinced that too much TV severely affects a child's attention span. Yes, they may sit for hours watching TV, as most kids' programmes are action packed with something new happening every few seconds, but then in the real world they cannot cope with sitting still, listening to teachers, reading a book, etc. My nephew, aged 3, has watched TV constantly since he was born, even being put to sleep in front of DVDs. He has a very low attention span and cannot sit down to do anything other than watch TV, play on the laptop, or play on his mum's i-phone. I think all the technology is very bad for him but most other people seem to think it's normal. I remember a few years ago being shocked by watching a programme about mothers and children and seeing one mother pull her baby's bouncer up to the TV for her to 'watch' when she was about 5 months old. I thought noone did that for their babies, but now, on my Facebook, I have seen loads of pictures of people's babies watching TV, so think it is common these days.

Stick with your rules - I did, although pretty much given up now that DS is 10 although we just have one TV in the house and have to negotiate who watches what (can't work a recorder ).

my dd who's 5 watches tv for 1 hour after school whilst i cook tea etc but she often switches it off and plays instead.friday night is film night so she chooses a dvd to watch.weekends she has dancing then we have lunch out so probably again only watches it for about an hour.
although today it has been on a few times as she's off school poorly and doesn't want to do much apart from lay on the sofa.
we don't have tv's in the bedrooms either.dd's best friends parents don't have a tv at all they watch the occassional film on the computer but just listen to music or story cd's.

We don't have rules as such. They just don't watch it. IMO there is nothing worse than television being on constantly, to the extent that it is just background noise.

Because my two (6 and 4) essentially watch no television, it becomes a very powerful tool on the odd occasion I will allow it and they will sit rooted to it!

Our television virtually never comes on before 6 o'clock in the evening, unless a child is poorly. I just don't see the need.

I never limited TV ever ..my dcs when younger could take it or leave it ...none of them watch much tv now as adults, in fact the only thing my ds watches now is football

Mammie81 I was always adamant about no TV in bedrooms and we have stuck to that.

However teenagers with laptops can access pretty much whatever TV show they want, when they want. Control is slipping away... (good job they still keep up with their homework etc!)

DD's best friend has a tv in her room and a few other people we've seen recently have had it on constantly.
It is easy to feel the odd one out. Thought I'd get shouted at about it being a fact of modern life, storing up trouble for the future etc.

Really I just don't want to dominating our lives as to whether we do/don't watch it. Dh & I tend to only watch an hour on a DVD every other night so we realise we out of step.

Does anyone know if this is true? Someone sciencey?

'She said I was nuts, that my children would be the kind who snuck round to their friends to watch TV and that I would be effectively depriving them.'

Mammie81 My 13 year-old has honestly never expressed a desire for a telly in her room. And she was quite firm with a miserable old git Santa a few years ago who said, 'I suppose you want a tv for your bedroom like everybody else'. Stick to your guns.

I know you can make children obsessed with things that are forbidden to them, but a bit of balance never harmed anyone.

They will watch TV at their friends houses though ..theres not much you can do about that