New book: TV is even worse for kids than prevouisly believed.

[spidermama]

It's coming out of Thursday but is being previewed in some papers.

It's called Remotely Controlled and it has some pretty explosive assertions about how really terrible TV is for our brains (especially the under 3s).

Will you buy it/read about it?
Or turn the other cheek?

What does it say about Disney DVDs??!!!
Lottie barely watches TV, but she would watch 10 Disney DVDs a day if I let her.

Dd1(11)was being really selfish and unpleasant last night so (first time ever) "Thats it! No tv at all, for a week"! - Dd1 addicted to (sky diet ) Charmed ,Simpsons, et al and am anticipating a n. breakdown -- Just not sure for which one of us though.Wish me luck. I will not give in ,I will not give in , I will not give in .......

Will be interesting to see if they can show any bio-chemical or physical effects of TV-watching rather than general 'parking in front of the TV not a good thing.'

Ds and I slobbed out yesterday in front of Cbeebies...

dont think we watch more than 2 hours a day

10 mins in morning (after breakfast and dressed for school) while I have a shower

an hour in evening after school (4.30-5.30ish)

but dd1 watches a dvd on Friday eves and at the weekend. She'd rather watch a film than telly.

oh last wednesday it was my day off and I felt terrible so I put the portable in my bedroom and dd2 and I got into bed and watched cbeebies (i dozed) for nearly 2 and a half hours though

I did much the same Enid the day after my last mumsnet meet up .

Ohhh on slobby Sundays Lottie might watch 3 DVDs! Strike me down now! But on school days she just has a tiny bit of milkshake on 5 in the mornings while I'm in the shower and I don't put it the TV on until she's tucked up asleep in the evening.

Am desperately trying to wean DS off TV now, as when was in first trimester I let him watch loads and now he is rapidly becoming a TV addict....

Easily done isn't it! On holiday we let Lottie watch a DVD in the morning while we slobbed before hitting the beach and now she asks for one every morning. She's not had one in the morning since end July. But she sort of screws her face up and cocks her head and says 'DVD??????' is a little quizzical voice!

Harry nicks the remote control and also tries to turn the TV on at the set.....I am trying to occupy him via toys/games and crayons but am knackered most of the time!
Pre- DS I used to be really critical of mom's who let their children watch DVD's and loads of TV and now I know why! I am far less judgmental now!

Oh dear, dd is knackered then. We have Cbeebies on all day and I look after her full time, shes 16months.

Funny how the health visitors keep asking me which nursery she goes to as her social skills are excellent... I must simply be a wonderful example for her to follow! LOL

In our defence, dd doesnt sit in front of the telly. She wanders around while we play with her toys and explores, she stops to join in with her favourite songs and then carries on.
Yes, I probably should just turn it off but I'm used to having the background noise.

I limit tv viewing to 1 hour a day because I think it's better for my children to play. I think tv is very passifying and don't watch much myself either, but I think it depends how much you watch really. I find my children get bored after a few programmes anyway and walk away. I agree programmes such as Dora are very good.

I have friend who always have the tv on in the background as if it's part of the family and I find that very strange and it gives me a headache.

Our TV is on all day, however they don't actually "watch" that much, like happydaddy I like it on for background noise (it's on now as I'm upstairs and the boys are in bed - I can here the 'murmur' of voices and it doesn't feel quite as lonely when DH is still at work).

However, this afternoon I put Nemo on - I kid you not - my 2 boys (5yrs and 22 months) sat on the sofa for the whole 96 playing time !! I've never seen them sit still for that long.........but at least I know how to keep them quiet next time I need a 'lengthy' piece of quite

QOQ we are the same - tv on all the time - even when in the house on own - like the back ground noise have lots of sisters and our house was always noisy when stepdad not about. Get quite stressed at silence for some reason. Kids will not watch a video all the way through and only stop to watch bits or programmes. We tend to do a lot of active things or are away from house so they get too distracted by their toys and fighting with each other. I dont ration it because I dont want to make it a must have. if they stopped playing then we would go in the garden more or even just for a wander round the outside of the local garden centres some have playgframe to try.

Hate the TV on in the background! I find it very difficult to multi-task, and if the TV is on it just catches my attention all the time and gives me a headache. I guess it's probably about how much noise etc you can cope with. Generally I am comfortable in the quiet. Our two (5 & 6) either have the TV on and are watching it, or it gets turned off (although this does get a bit weird, when dh says "if you aren't watching that it will get turned off" when they are playing) We usually have a bit after school for wind down time, and then Little Bear Stories as part of bed time routine. At the week end they get it first thing in the morning until mid-morning so that we all get a bit of down time. They also play computer games. To be honest my two are very energetic and play fantastic imaginative games, so I'm not that bothered. Some times I know it's too much and then we have a few days of lots of other activity instead. It's all about balance. Sometimes a bit of vegging is just what they need.

Quick digression: GDG - I think "How its Made" is on the Discovery Channel - 551 on ours. Enjoy - its brilliant!

just posted on education that dd's homework (Y5) was to watch 2 hours of TV before tomorrow! Back to your view of schools, SM!

If it's the same research I read about it sounds slightly unhinged. Professor something or other. Reckons too much TV interferes with brain waves and can cause cancer, Alzheimers's, schizophrenia...can't remember what else.

Though I did read this in the....oh don't know if I can admit it......oh....OK The Express

Oh, arse.

Well, DH and I both work in TV in one way or another. I watch it all day at work.

I'm addled. DS doesn't watch much, but I'm hoping to cultivate a love for it so I can leave him to it when DB's born in January

Here we go again. Do the academics (whoever they are) writing these theses - or more likely the media hacks reporting on them and writing sensational articles - not think that parents have any common sense? Most parents I know have at least a modicum of control over what their children watch - and value TV for its educational input as well as an entertainment medium

And - don't 'they' think that sometimes kids need to chill out and just vegetate?

MY DS1 (5.6) watches half an hour of CBBC before school then up to an hour of video (anything from Star Wars to Thunderbirds to Bambi) after tea. After watching his CBBC slot, he's always full of questions on the way to school about what was on Newsround. He's asked about the giant squid discovered the other week so we've found it on the BBC website and told him all about it. He's fascinated - but he wouldn't have known about it if it hadn't been for TV - what's he going to do? Read the Guardian?

I get so annoyed with people who say they are 'anti-TV' - ever heard of not shooting the messenger? There are some fab science, news, nature and sports programmes on for kids of quite a young age. Yes there is lots of crap too but there is always the off button!

We only have 1 TV in the house and I would not let my DSs have a TV in their room - and we don't have one in our bedroom - but if we ever had a dedicated playroom I would consider putting a portable TV in there.

I wouldn't deny my kids the opportnity to read books just because of Jeffrey Archer, so why should I stop them watching TV just because of Neighbours?

Wordsmith - oh how you live up to your name tonight. I could barely agree with you more if I had written it myself (as I have taken all evening to write 700 words, I would have to say that is an unlikely scenario).
esp the bit about Jeffrey Archer.
so all I have to add is - tish to this survey. also tosh.

all things in moderation.

I just found it on Amazon and the publishers blurb says ....

'Britons currently spend an average of four hours a day watching television - that's more than a 24-hour day per week. Television has become our national obsession: It is our main source of common experience; its hold over our lives is so significant that in some families, the television has greater influence over children than parents do.

I'm interested and I have ordered it because I watched hours and hours of TV every day along with everyone else in my family when I was a kid. It was a total waste of life. My brain is filled with useless information. I can repeat, word for word, note for note, countless adverts and TV theme tunes from the seventies and eightees. If I had my life again I'd fill those parts with something far more meaningful.

I want my kids to use TV far more selectively. I also remember regularly walking around our neighbourhood with my dh (before having kids) and being shocked to notice the flickering colours of the TV in nearly every house we passed.

I agree with the man. We watch far too much.

Sorry to state the obvious Spidermama, but if you think you watch too much TV, do you need a book to tell you where the 'off' switch is?