Page 13 | No TV before school?!

Tireddadplus · 2025-10-03T07:41:44+00:00

Hi! Just got a message from our DD’s (5yo) school that we should not let the kids watch any tv before school! Bad for their brains or something… DD watches a bit of tv while myself or DW sort out lunches or whatever…just makes getting out the door easier! Am i being unreasonable to ignore this advice?

YouCantParkThere · 04/10/2025 09:34

My eight year old literally sets an alarm to get up an hour before the rest of us so that she can chill with her cereal and her programmes on her own for a little while. Then she walks happily to school with her pals. It’s all good.

RubySquid · 04/10/2025 09:43

ResusciAnnie · 03/10/2025 09:33

My kids get up at 5:30/6 (year 3 & 6) and we’re totally fine with that. Our mornings work well. They screen - TV and switch -until 7:30 and then play until 8:30 when we leave for school.
All pretty harmonious on the whole, this morning they played Uno and did loom bands and made paper snowflakes and those like paper people chain concertina things.
Also thriving at school - if it ain’t broke don’t fix it OP!

Edited

See if mine got up that early no way would they get tv. it's almost like a reward for getting up so bloody early.

They only had tv at their nana house anyway We didn't have one until DD1 was 10 and never sky) Netfix etc

ResusciAnnie · 04/10/2025 09:46

RubySquid · 04/10/2025 09:43

See if mine got up that early no way would they get tv. it's almost like a reward for getting up so bloody early.

They only had tv at their nana house anyway We didn't have one until DD1 was 10 and never sky) Netfix etc

Show quote history

Anything is only a reward if you glorify it. It’s just TV. What’s wrong with waking up at 6?! For every person complaining about child waking up early, there’s a parent complaining they have to wake their kid up multiple times in a morning.

Lauralou19 · 04/10/2025 09:53

Jade3450 · 04/10/2025 07:40

Are you only interested in how it affects them academically?

I’m sure playing games on the bus doesn’t affect their learning much, but it sure as hell affects thei socialising, as if theyre playing games they’re not talking.

I’ve banned phone use while we’re in the car for this reason.

Show quote history

Nope - again its all about balance as said in my post. Both my kids have fantastic friends, all love screens but all do a ton of other stuff with family/friends/outdoor activities etc. The point was it has no impact on education watching tv before school (in fact the suggestion is completely laughable). But I do understand the comments from parents who turn it off to make it easier getting out the door if their kids struggle with turning it off. That has never been an issue in our house and our eldest would have a long few hours trek to school if they didn’t turn it off and missed the bus!

You’re fighting a losing battle if you try and take them off them on the bus as they’ll only be watching their friends phone. They are away all day at school (not allowed to be seen out the bag) so no issue with playing games on them on the bus with their friends.

The school have got it completely wrong, each individual family can choose what suits them and we’ve certainly had no issues with tv before school. Other families may and that’s an individual choice, but it’s not for schools to dictate to anyone.

Lauralou19 · 04/10/2025 10:09

Jade3450 · 04/10/2025 07:46

”My kids watch an hour of TV before school and are all in the gifted and talented program.”

🤣

Again, pointing out how ridiculous it is to link abit of tv watching with education 😂 Your child can watch tv before school, after school, at the weekend and still excel at school. I’d be pointing that out to the school if I received such a bonkers email.

And of course there’s the many apps we do for homework, the screens used at school, ipads etc.

In 2025, its about balancing screens, not banning them. Most of our kids will be working with screens in the future - i’d rather ours know how to balance it than fight the inevitable.

Goldengirl123 · 04/10/2025 10:16

I don’t agree with tv before school. Tell kids to sit with a book or do some drawing

Original poster

Tireddadplus · 04/10/2025 10:24

Great feedback! I agree that too much tv sends DD into a trance like state that is hard to get her out of! Its not hours of tv before school!

OP posts:

GagMeWithASpoon · 04/10/2025 10:26

Goldengirl123 · 04/10/2025 10:16

I don’t agree with tv before school. Tell kids to sit with a book or do some drawing

But… why?

Shr3dding · 04/10/2025 10:27

Shelllendyouhertoothbrushtoo · 04/10/2025 07:31

Does nobody else's kids get up mega early and have the TV as babysitter until breakfast? Genuinely shocked at how many people have no TV in the morning. Do you just wake up with your kids and entertain them at god-awful o'clock??

Did you know that millions of us were born before there was television in the morning?

How do you think parents raised children then?

I refuse to believe that children have so fundamentally changed that mornings can't be managed without TV

Shr3dding · 04/10/2025 10:29

Tireddadplus · 04/10/2025 10:24

Great feedback! I agree that too much tv sends DD into a trance like state that is hard to get her out of! Its not hours of tv before school!

Id be seriously concerned about a child in a trance, just switch the blooming thing off. You're in charge.

Lauralou19 · 04/10/2025 10:32

Goldengirl123 · 04/10/2025 10:16

I don’t agree with tv before school. Tell kids to sit with a book or do some drawing

They do that all day at school - why don’t you agree with tv? TV is not harmful, in fact there are so many amazing programmes kids can watch. Kids are allowed to just ‘chill’ (providing they get up on time to do so and it doesn’t affect getting ready and out the door on time).

Lauralou19 · 04/10/2025 10:35

ResusciAnnie · 04/10/2025 09:46

Anything is only a reward if you glorify it. It’s just TV. What’s wrong with waking up at 6?! For every person complaining about child waking up early, there’s a parent complaining they have to wake their kid up multiple times in a morning.

Show quote history

Agree - mine are always up early, have never had to beg them to get out of bed (they set their own alarms but are natural early wakers), always made the bus and shock horror…they watch tv before school.

I mean that hour watching Peppa Pig before school age 5 really has impacted them for life 😂

Swiftie1878 · 04/10/2025 10:38

Shelllendyouhertoothbrushtoo · 04/10/2025 07:31

Does nobody else's kids get up mega early and have the TV as babysitter until breakfast? Genuinely shocked at how many people have no TV in the morning. Do you just wake up with your kids and entertain them at god-awful o'clock??

My kids only got up at god-awful o’clock in the pre-school years. Once they started school, they had to be woken.

GagMeWithASpoon · 04/10/2025 11:12

Shr3dding · 04/10/2025 10:27

Did you know that millions of us were born before there was television in the morning?

How do you think parents raised children then?

I refuse to believe that children have so fundamentally changed that mornings can't be managed without TV

Show quote history

When I woke up my parents had already gone to work. So got myself up, dressed , washed , fed(mostly not) and went to school. They had no idea if or how much telly I watched or how I managed it all, just that I did because I was never late.

sashh · 04/10/2025 11:13

I would bet there is one or possibly two children who are watching far too much TV and causing a problem.

But they can't just ask their parents to turn the TV off.

Beamur · 04/10/2025 11:15

Never watched TV in the morning. How do people find the time?

neverbeenskiing · 04/10/2025 11:21

My 7 year old DS is always awake between 6am and 6.30am. He reads in his room until 7am (when the rest of us get up) and then he's allowed to get up and go downstairs. Once he's had a decent breakfast and is ready for school I have no problem with him watching CBBC for a little bit while the rest of us are getting ready. Half the time he'll choose to play with his cars or something instead anyway. If he does watch TV we never have an issue with getting him to switch it off, and it certainly doesn't turn him into a "zombie", he enjoys the walk to school and goes in ready to learn. If your child is usually active and enjoys a range of screen-free activities, including daily exercise and time outdoors, then 20 minutes of cartoons in the mornings is not going to do them any harm.

This business about teachers being able to tell which kids watch TV in the mornings before school is a nonsense. If certain children are often coming into school unmotivated, unfocused and not ready to learn in the mornings there are many reasons why that could be the case. How could they possibly know for sure that TV is responsible? When I think about the children in my school who are zombie-like or unfocused in the mornings, for every one of them there are other things going on in their lives that are likely to impact their engagement with learning. Things that are much more significant than watching TV.

warmapplepies · 04/10/2025 11:24

Beamur · 04/10/2025 11:15

Never watched TV in the morning. How do people find the time?

I guess it depends what time you get up and when you need to leave the house, and what your morning routine looks like.

I was an only child with a dad who was an early riser so I was often up for 2+ hours before school - plenty of time to have breakfast, get changed, watch TV and still have time to kill, lol.

GagMeWithASpoon · 04/10/2025 11:50

Beamur · 04/10/2025 11:15

Never watched TV in the morning. How do people find the time?

The wake up earlier?

RubySquid · 04/10/2025 12:27

ResusciAnnie · 04/10/2025 09:46

Anything is only a reward if you glorify it. It’s just TV. What’s wrong with waking up at 6?! For every person complaining about child waking up early, there’s a parent complaining they have to wake their kid up multiple times in a morning.

Show quote history

6 is too early for my liking.

WhereYouLeastExpect · 04/10/2025 14:26

mumofoneAloneandwell · 03/10/2025 09:00

Having something like GMB on isnt so bad is it? Kind of frames the morning imo

I listen to radio 1 in the mornings now but have had gmb on in the past

We dont have kids tv on though, and try to avoid giving dd the tablet (unless shes had an awful night's sleep and needs to be kept awake)

Back in the 90s my mum always used to put GMTV on in the morning, for the news she claimed. While us kids whined about it being boring 😅.

Ladychatterly86 · 04/10/2025 14:30

No TV on here in the mornings. We leave the house by 7:40 am. We also don't have it on during dinner and all sit together to eat. They usually watch it for about an hour after dinner but then it is reading, bath and bedtime routine. Children (4,6). Some Amazon kids tablet is allowed at weekends.

Lauralou19 · 04/10/2025 16:11

sashh · 04/10/2025 11:13

I would bet there is one or possibly two children who are watching far too much TV and causing a problem.

But they can't just ask their parents to turn the TV off.

I agree - I think its a cop out from the school instead of addressing it with the parents that just need to parent! My first thought was there’s some lateness at that school so a general email has gone out.

TV isn’t a problem for 99% of families and even if it is, that’s up to parents to set boundaries or decide on turning it off if kids won’t turn it off on time. Absolutely not the school’s job to email all parents.

Lauralou19 · 04/10/2025 16:18

Beamur · 04/10/2025 11:15

Never watched TV in the morning. How do people find the time?

Ours are always up at 6, one doesn’t leave till just after 7.30 and the other walks and has over 2 hours from wake up to leaving. They get dressed, eat breakfast properly at the table (not rushing), have a hot drink and brush their teeth within the space of about 20 minutes. We do showers/bath every night. Loads of time to watch tv in the morning but I do appreciate a child that gets up later or has to leave very early probably wont have much time.

greengreenbass · 04/10/2025 20:32

I have very fond memories of watching the big breakfast before secondary school, it did make me late a few times though 😅

Really though I don't think a bit of TV in the morning is going to have a huge impact on an overall healthy active child. We walk 30 mins to school every day so I'm sure any tv zombie-ishness is shaken off by that tbh.