Is TV bad for my kids?

[Mercy]

Did anyone else see the Panorama prog. this evening and want to join in the 2 week experiment?

I am thinking about it - but it starts tomorrow


(btw I didn't see all of it - was it any good?)

[moondog]

Don't think so. In moderation.
Mine don't watch tv (neither do I) but not for moral crusading reasons.I just think it is shit and annoying.

I reckon a lot of kids are watching hours of tv every day and suffering no harm (and say this from perspective of a salt)

[Mercy]

That's interesting. The parents were saying they had noticed quite a positive change in their childrens behaviour whilst the teachers hadn't noticed any difference at all (except in the case of one child).

[moondog]

I think there is definitely a huge sector of kids who are vulnerable to influence of tv though and with whom great care needs to be taken.More difficult to sort out who those kids are though.

I don't think it needs a huge study to show that tv has a deadening influence on mind and body.That's why I stopped watchnig myself.

[oliveoil]

I don't think it is bad in moderation but on that program they were watching 3 hours plus

and had tv's in their rooms, went to bed watching dvd's etc

that is bad imo

[moondog]

I don't like tvs in bedrooms.That and not eating together. Am always lecturing folk I see about those two.

[cornsilk]

The main difference was that parents were spending more quality time with their children and as a family. Don't need to ditch the TV totally to do that.

[Pruners]

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[Mercy]

TV in bedrooms is not good imo. I didn't have one until I was about 17!

And ended up watching it until very late at night and not doing my homework

[Hulababy]

TV is not bad if watched in moderation, and as part of a normal, healthy lifestyle. And you watch what your little ones view, and select appropriate channels, videos or programmes for them.

[Mercy]

tbh, I find some kids tv progs very informative.

dd (6) was telling me the other day about cake - and she didn't meant the edible variety! It was news to me.

[Pruners]

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[lady007pink]

Mercy, can you enlighten me on this "cake"?

[yoda]

'cake' is the name of the solid dry residue left over from sewage hth.

We are also fans of Auntie Mabel in this house, very informative

[Pruners]

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[bozza]

I think some tv is OK but I think lots of children watch too much. TBH we just don't have that much time to watch TV and DD who has the most time (she is only just 3) is so not interested. The only problem is that because our TV is on so minimally when we go to people's houses who have the tv on constantly in the background DS is utterly glued and quite anti-social.

[nannyogg]

My dd would not never ever have eaten a tomato if it hadn't been for Charlie and Lola.

[Pruners]

Message withdrawn

[nannyogg]

Numberjacks, yes! That's another one. Bloody awful programme but I'm sure it's the reason dd recognises numbers.

And I have certainly learnt a lot from Auntie Mabel.

[chopchopbusybusy]

I think television can be very entertaining and educational for both children and adults - in moderation. We do have some rules - no TV on weekday mornings and no TVs in childrens bedrooms. My friend has 2 DDs and five televisions and she said to me recently that they are usually all in different rooms watching something different

[peggotty]

Tv is a godsend to me at the moment (8 weeks pg, horrible morning sickness and knackered! ) so I am using it A LOT to keep my dd entertained. I have gone through phases of trying to cut down on the amount of tv she watches (she is 2.6) but wouldn't consider stopping it altogether tbh. I do feel guilty about her watching loads at the moment but don't have the energy to be doing other stuff. In a normal situation it is on for hour or so in the morning and about hour and half before bedtime, which is probably a lot to some people but I only let her watch certain things.

[Anna8888]

I rarely watch TV because it truly appalling in this country (France). The only time my daughter sees TV is when her stepbrothers put it on, but that doesn't last long as my partner always asks them to turn it off

My daughter has a few DVDs that she loves, and has learnt a lot of vocabulary from. Sometimes I need some peace and quiet, or to distract her, and I'm fine with her sitting quietly with a DVD for company.

So - a little well-chosen TV/DVD from 2-3 is OK. Best avoid commercials though.

[speedymama]

I think it is total garbage the way people blame TV on curtailing the development of children. It is not TV doing that, it is the lack of input from the parents who plonk them in front of it for hours and hours.

Watching a 15 minute episode of something like Thomas the Tank engine is not going to damage a toddlers's brain cells and if anything, they will use their imagination to make up stories. At the moment, DTS (3yo) claim that our car is a train, that they are passengers and when we stop at the traffic lights, we have to pick up more passengers.

As for TV being rubbish in general, well it depends on your interest doesn't it? The programmes I tune into at the moment include History of Britain with Andrew Marr, The Seven Ages of Rock, The Apprentice when it was on, Law & Order, CSI, Grand Designs, Late Night Review, The Sky at night as well as interesting documentaries and nature programmes.

I select my programmes to match my interest and don't bother with the rest. I also read voraciously, exercise including running, I'm learning German plus cook and bake. DTS can name all the planets in the solar system and are endeavouring to count to 50.

TV is not the cause of ills in our society, it's people and their attitudes and imho, too many people use TV as the whipping boy because that is the easy option.

[Beachcomber]

I always think that it is difficult to just look at one element, say TV, in a family's lifestlye anyway.

My experience is that children who watch a lot of TV don't exercise as much and often don't have the best diets. There is a huge difference between a child who watches hours of TV, eats badly, doesn't get lots of parental input, etc and a child who watches moderates amount of TV but has a healthy diet, plays outside plenty, does stuff with their parents.

We have a motto in our house 'TV is our friend, we know when to turn it on and we know when to turn it OFF'.

My DD1 watches TV in short sessions, I rarely so 'no' to her turning it on but it goes on for 10 mins then she turns it off. I prefer her to watch it for 3 10 minute sessions that be sat in front of it for half an hour. I know I'm lucky in that she is always OK about turning it off (she's nearly 4 BTW).

We live in France but I don't let her watch French children's TV as it is DIRE (speedy stupid cartoons). I think watching some UK television has helped her to develop her English. I think the effect of TV on a child depends enormously on the individual child and of course on what they are watching. Like everything in parenting there are few hard and fast rules.

[fizzylemonade]

We have sky+ so can record what we want and watch it when we want so none of this plonk them down in front of anything.

My boys are 4 and 13months they love Diego which is the only cartoon, C&L, Auntie Mabel -we love her, Little Princess, hysterical.

I do let them watch Numberjacks and Tommy Zoom before preschool because they are up, breakfasted and dressed by 8am and I get 20 mins to do housework, so I do use it for childminding purposes although I am in the room to talk to 4year old about it and ask questions to make him think.

He doesn't know any Disney films, Spiderman or any of that although he starts school in September so it will all come.

It's about quantity and quality. Boomerang complete trash.

[MilaMae]

No I don't think tv if used properly is bad for your child at all.

I have 3 under 4 they are up at 7 am and in bed at 7pm a 12 hour day. Yesterday they went to pre-school, had 3 meals round the table as a family, went swimming and had half an hour reading their library books, some time playing with toys and a snatched half hour in the garden. They also watched 2 hours tv 1 after lunch before swimming, a much needed chill out time and 1 before pre-school. They only watch Cbeebies.

Really don't see how during such a stimulating day as the above 2 hours of toddler tv could ever be viewed as bad. They'd have been too knackered to do anything else.

I am an ex primary teacher and can already see that they are 3 bright kids ahead of the learning goals for their age, good speech, vocabulary etc so the tv they have been exposed to from an early age clearly hasn't done them any harm. I would go as far to say they have learnt a lot from programmes such as Tikkabilla, Something Special, Number Jacks etc. In fact I think children not viewing such programmes are missing out.

I think it's the same old thing-let's petrify parents it'll sell a few newspapers. Times have changed,TV is here to stay and can be used as a very useful tool if not to excess.

I do have a problem though with tvs in bedrooms and kids watching adult tv and also eating in front of tv.