No TV for children?

Amara

Jewel wrote: »

It sounds as though your brother has a problem (I don't mean that nastily). I've experienced parents who have used certain parental techniques to go up a class in society . No pink, no sweets, child listens to classic fm, only branded clothes, etc. It makes me laugh!

Oh,well. Boys are lovely, though:).

Jewel_2

Amara wrote: »

Oh,well. Boys are lovely, though:).

I didn't mean it in a nasty way, I just know someone who, even now when his kids are older and they cannot avoid telly, he will still only wear matching wellies with his clothes :rotfl::eek:

Jewel_2

Plans_all_plans wrote: »

The point of me being at home with my daughter is to look after and educate her until she gets to school age. Sitting her in front of the TV for as long as she wants does not qualify educating her in my eyes and that's why I don't do it.

Our day used to go like this: playgroup in morning, home for lunch, 2 hour nap, playing together in afternoon (whether that be with toys, paints, play-doh, baking etc). I'd make tea with her sat on the counter next to me.

Other household chores I would do over the wkend when her dad was off work to keep an eye on her. Since she's been about 2/2.5 yrs old I've done some housework during the week but she has a cloth and 'dusts'. She likes to help with the washing too so I try to involve her in it.

I'm not saying that I'll never let my child watch TV, but I just feel it's detrimental to the under 5's to watch it. I dont want to start allowing her to watch TV cos then I will use it as a babysitter, so it is easier to have a no TV rule from the off until I feel she's ready.

On peer pressure: it's my firmly held belief that it's character building to not do what everyone else does! I remember everyone is my class watched Hollyoaks, Footballer's Wives, Bad Girls etc but I was point blank not allowed to watch them! I soon got over it!

There were things I wasn't allowed to do either, but TV was rather low on the list of priorities. When they become teenagers there are much bigger issues to consider that knocks TV into oblivion.

code-a-holic

Interesting comments here - I have been questioning the amount of Tv in our house recently.
I have 4 children, 1.5, 5,5(6 next week!), 8.
The Tv seems to be on constantly between 3-7. With me every once in a while changing the chanel so a different child gets to watch programme of their choice - Everyone watches something they like bar my youngest. I have noticed she pays absolultly no attenion to the 50" thing in the living room!!
Yes- we have a monster television. Anyone would think we are tv addicts, but its mainly down to my husband being a IT technician - technology is his work and hobby and the children are learning this from their father. So its console games that the children spend a lot of time doing. Xbox is banned on week nights, but the Wii isnt - a strange ruling maybe, but the children learn a lot more from the Wii than a tv programme - in my opinion. My second son was the only child in his playgroup to know the alphabet in Welsh and English when he started at 2. The same son was also able to fix Miss' laptop for the whitescreen at the age of 4 - They then asked us to restrict our childs IT experiences at home as they had outgrown their classes equipment.
Anyway im wondering away from Tv programmes.
My youngest pays no attention when it is on and has the imagination to play with whatever she finds. My next daughter up has select programmes she excitedly sits down for and can hold her attention for a whole film. My youngest son, would happily watch tv all day long, stopping for a round on the Wii every hour, if he could get away with it! But he comes away from it very lethargic and unable to concentrate for a while afterwards. My eldest never got to watch tv regularly until at least 3 as the childminder didnt have one and when I wasnt at work we were out and about, he will not ask to watch but enjoys watching a programme relevant to his age, but he struggles to sit through anything past 30 mins. I wonder if he was introduced to tv earlier he would be used to concentrating on something for more than a hour.
I think my conclusion is that all children react differently to television - like everything else in life. I have learned interesting facts from cbeebies that I didnt get in a level subjects - that can't be all bad. Then on the other hand its freaky when a 5 yr old goes ' I would like the power rangers megazord that makes noises but its only available in Smyths and all good retailers'. (He said this last week and I laughed for ages but now shudder at how his innocent brain has taken in all those naughty adverts trying to make kids beg for toys!!).

eagerlyfrustrated

Mine watch plenty of tv and my 6 year old has recently tested as having adult literacy and mathematical skills. My 3 year old has just started school (they attend a Montessori primary) and is a competent reader, easily reading fairy tales for example.

To be completely honest I don't see any more merit in reading than tv watching. Some television is silly and mind-numbing, as are some books. Some tv is wonderfully educational as are some books. And some tv and books are just simple entertainment and either are a perfectly reasonable pastime in moderation.

Sometimes they watch tv by themselves and other times it's a family event. Things like Doctor Who are great family occasions and on Fridays we have a family movie night, often watching movies my OH and I loved as children, like Back to the Future and Ghostbusters. I suspect they will look back on fondly on these experiences when they are older, I know I treasure similar memories from my childhood. We also watch educational programmes together, like Wonders of the Solar System or we recently watched the BBC Anne Frank dramatisation from 2008. And then we learn more about what we have watched as family projects. They also seek out books that tell stories about what they are learning. My Oldest is currently reading When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit as she's on a WW2 kick. Television can be a great tool for getting into a different world and head-space.

The thing that does worry me about television is the adverts. Serious child-psychology is employed in their creation and they are incredibly sophisticated at making children desire the advertised products. There were never as many adverts when i was a child and they weren't so intelligently created. I get around this by as much as possible avoiding live tv feeds, apart from the BBC. They mainly watch DVDs, downloads and programmes we have recorded to the DVR.