How is television used in your home?
How do you manage television usage in your family? What rules do you set when it comes to quantity – the amount of time it’s on and quality – the kind of content watched? Have you noticed how television has influenced your children? Since the role of television is a complex issue with no right or wrong answers and it’s a part of our daily lives, the dialogue on how television effects us and impacts development is an important one. Write in and give us your thoughts and ideas!
We have two young kids so we still have complete control over what the kids watch. Most often they will watch programs we can stream without any commercials, ones we have purchased or checked out from the library. They both watch a 1/2 hour video after dinner to give us some time to clean up and get ready for the final push of the evening. Our older daughter also gets a video earlier in the day during her rest time. She doesn’t nap anymore so it is one of the few times during the day she sits still and is quiet. We also occasionally let them watch a video on the weekends. For ideas on what shows are appropriate or engaging for them I ask our friends what their kids watch, but I also consult sites like http://www.commonsensemedia.org.
I find that there are great opportunities to learn on many of the shows available now for young children, but I also observe how quickly certain language used on the shows can enter the lexicon. Most of it has been fine, but every once in a while things come up that will require a conversation with my oldest daughter. It just makes me aware of how closely we will need to monitor what they watch as they grow older and the shows become more sophisticated.
We don’t watch it…unless there is a Steeler’s game on, (DVR’d so we can speed through commercials). Although many protest the violence in sports, watching the occasional game has been a great family bonding activity. The sports-related violence seems far less harmful than the sarcasm and disrespect for adults in a lot of children’s programming. Turn off the tv and play!!!!