The average child spends 900 hours in school per year and a staggering 1,023 hours in front of a television. In fact, most children plug into the world of television long before they even enter school and when they do, statistics show that 70% of child-care centers use television during a typical day.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children watch around four hours of television a day. The AAP guidelines however, state that children older than 2 should watch no more than one to two hours a day of quality programming. Further, children under age 2 should have no ‘screen time’ whatsoever (that’s no TV, DVDs, computers or video games) at all. During the first 2 years, a critical time for brain development, television can get in the way of exploring, learning and spending time interacting and playing with parents and others, which helps the young develop the skills they need to grow cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally.
While there are many entertaining and educational experiences for children to have on ‘screens’, it is important to keep in mind what children need at different ages for their healthy development. So, how much time is okay?
- Children under 2 years – very little time, preferably none.
- Preschoolers – an hour of age-appropriate programmes a day is plenty.
- Children 5 to 8 years – stick to an hour a day maximum.
- Children over 8 years – an hour and a half to a maximum of two hours a day is acceptable.
To follow these guidelines means that your children have the time and opportunity to build strong bonds with real and caring people, have time for active physical play and ‘hands-on’ activities of all kinds.
Therefore, plan what you watch and limit your child to the amount watched each day. Decide together which programs will be watched and only have ‘the box’ on then, rather than just on all the time. This teaches children to think, plan, make choices and allows time for them to do other things important for their development.
Other issues to be aware of or implement include:
- Remember to lead by example – your child’s viewing habits may be copied from yours.
- Television viewing for a very young child should always take place in your company.
- Record programs so they can be played at a time that suits your family.
- Encourage children to discuss how they feel after watching a program.
- Play ‘spot the gimmicks and tricks’ when watching commercials.
- Decide on bedtime based on your child’s age, and not on the time a certain programme ends.
- Children need to wind down between television and sleep, so turn the volume down or off before bedtime.
- Make television one of the many varied activities your children do – so organise outings, play-dates and activities for them that don’t involve ‘screens’. Fun arts and crafts such as coloring and drawing are always well received – especially if you join in – and especially if you choose coloring pages of a favourite character – so for example at sites like Spongebob Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Spongebob and Patrick coloring
Television has its advantages. It can be educational and entertaining. It can open up new worlds for children, giving them the opportunity to virtually travel the globe and learn about the many different cultures.However, many down-sides also exist; many children are exposed to violence, advertising and adult material that is not age appropriate.
Just as you maintain a balanced diet or a regular bedtime, establishing healthy television habits is one of the most important things you can do for your family.
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.