No TV before school?!

[Tireddadplus]

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?

The answer is pretty obvious isn’t it? Either they didn’t regulate and I already told you the outcomes or found something else to regulate and if they were lucky it was either acceptable to some level socially or at least in their homes .

Screens are the biggie now, before that it was gaming, before that it was tv, before that radio, before that books . Music, crafts, theatre, concerts , dancing , even playing!!! and any combination of these (other hobbies/interests) were all looked at with suspicion at some point or another , contributors to the decline of society and a plague on the younger generations.

It wasn't never. We also had a year with no car. My parents sometimes found it difficult to make the mortgage payment (v. high interest rates in the early '90s) I remember DM crying when the winter gas bill arrived. They replaced it when they could afford it, it wasn't some lifestyle statement it was just a famly trying their best in hard economic times. I am glad they prioritised keeping us fed and clothed over having a TV, technology wasn't cheap in 1991.

I didn't. I struggled - a lot. Lots of shutdowns, meltdowns and an inability to manage my emotions.

Now as an adult I always have the TV on at home and carry a screen with me. It's not perfect and I still have days where I can't speak after work or need to lie in a dark room, but I am much much better - to the point where I can reliably work part-time without having a breakdown every year or so and needing time off plus medication.

Definitely no tv before school.

I'm sorry to hear it was a bad time for your family 💐
It was unusual though not to have a TV in the 90s which was my point.
🙂

Thank you, it wasn't at all unusual amongst my peers some didn't have a telephone line. Hammersmith/Acton lots of children of immigrants, shared bedrooms, hand me downs, darned soks and tights.

What bias? Only stating on the people I actually know. I'm not really likely to be spending time with others who have such issues and I as they wouldn't beoit socialising etc

You said - The more screens available the more ND diagnoses.

I always remember TV AM being on the TV when we got ready for school, which we used to do in the living room for some reason, maybe because the fire was on in there in the winter and upstairs was cold. Mad Lizzie was the highlight of the morning. Anyway, I don't remember our brains being particularly addled by it.

It's really not school's business what you do in your own home of a morning, as a former teacher i find that an odd request. The issue was never kids watching tv in the morning, it was them staying up too late the night before playing Xbox or watching vacuous YouTube videos and, more recently, TikToks.

And again where did I say it was caused by screens Another person readingcwhats not actually written

That's gotta be mid80s onwards at least then. So you must be a decade younger than me

The school aren’t telling people what to do, they’re giving advice based on their observations of behaviour at school. If OP doesn’t care enough to follow that advice, that’s up to her. Personally, I don’t know why anyone feels the need to put the TV on in the morning. People seem to think that kids can’t entertain themselves despite having houses full of toys and books.

Nope - I’m the same person!!!

read back your posts. I’ve already quoted back the place where you said it. I’m not going back through again.

perhaps you mean something else. But regardless, the implication is there and you have already been dismissive of people’s needs.

You may think there's an " implication" but did you actually read the words of written saying that screens cause autism?? That I extremely doubt ss I never wrote them

I would think it depends on the child. We do no TV before school because it makes mine grumpier about getting ready and he's more zoned out. If you see no change to your daughter's behaviour when she watches tv compared to when she doesn't I wouldn't sweat it.

Total depends on the child. Dd23... was an early bird, organised and ready for the day - 20 min early - watched telly before walking to school. (I would not have changed this from fear of "breaking something!" Peace and serenity followed her like a spray of perfume...)

DD25 a total night owl, came down "ready" for school... sent up to brush teeth, hair, put polo shirt on right way out and get the school reading book from under her pillow. No time for telly... dashed here and there on way to school. (Again, would not have changed this for fear of "breaking" her free spirit)

As my mum said... "You work with what you've got sweetheart" with a bit of an eye roll.
(I was more DD25 when younger, DD23 now).

Just do what works for you.

The school are right, it is pretty clear which children have been watching TV most of the night before coming to school. I'm not anti-television at all (though I don't agree with them in bedrooms), but first thing in the morning is not the time.

No tv either before school no way