A Guide to Managing Television: Tips for Your Family
How can we limit the amount of time spent watching TV?
- Make very specific rules about when children can and cannot watch television. For example, do not allow TV during meals, homework or when parents are not around.
- AAP guidelines recommend that parents limit their children’s viewing to one to two hours per day at most.
- An alternative is to limit TV to one hour on school nights and two to three hours a day on weekends.
- You may want to allow a little extra viewing time for special educational programs.
- If your child is doing poorly in school limit TV time to half an hour each day, or entirely eliminate TV, except for limited time on the weekends.
- Make it a rule that children must finish homework and chores before watching television. If your child’s favorite show is on before the work can be done, then record the show to watch later.
- The best rule is no TV during the week, and limited weekend TV. This ensures that kids are not rushing to finish their homework so they can watch a favorite show. It also frees up more time for family interaction during the busy weekdays. For example, instead of parking the kids in front of the TV while you fix dinner, have them help you get ready for dinner. Even young children can slice a cucumber with a dull knife or put silverware on the table.
How can we keep TV from dominating our family life?
- Keep the TV off during family mealtimes.
- Eating in front of the TV starts a bad habit and reinforces kid’s dependence on television.
- Research shows that eating while watching TV has an even worse effect of “hooking” children to TV.
- Make conversation a priority in your home.
- See YourChild: Parenting Resources for more on communication and how to talk with your kids.
- Interacting more will help your children improve their conversational skills.
- It will improve your relationship with your kids, and keep the lines of communication open.
- Read to your children.
- Begin reading to your children by the time they are age one.
- Encourage older kids to read on their own, but don’t stop reading aloud to them.
- Show your kids that you enjoy reading. Let them see you reading rather than watching TV to relax.
- Don’t use TV as a reward or punishment.
- This gives the TV too much value, and takes value away from what they had to do to earn the TV time.
- For positive discipline ideas and resources, see Parenting Resources on YourChild.
- Encourage active recreation.
- Don't use the TV as a distraction or baby-sitter for preschool children.
- You can still get stuff done around the house without turning on the TV to occupy your kids. Try to involve your child in what you are doing. For example, if you need to pay bills, set your child up with papers, envelopes, markers and stickers, and let them “pay bills,” too! If you are folding laundry, let your child match socks. If the older kids are doing homework, give your little one some “homework,” to do alongside them.
- Alternatives to TV include puzzles, play dough, board games, crayons, magazines, cutting and pasting, dress-up, reading, and making forts out of chairs and blankets or large cardboard boxes. You can also have playdates and swap childcare with neighbor children.
- For more ideas:
- Get the TV sets out of your children's bedrooms.
- A third of kids aged two to seven, and two-thirds of kids aged eight and up do have TVs in their bedrooms [1].
- Placing a TV in your child’s room keeps you from monitoring the amount of TV and the types of shows that they watch.
- For kids, having a TV in the bedroom is linked to doing worse in school and sleep problems [2].
- If your child complains that all their friends have their own TV sets in their rooms, remind them that you are going to do what you feel is best for them, because you care.
How do I stay involved with what my kids are watching?
- Watch shows with your children and talk about them afterward.
- Discuss the consequences of violence (if you allow older children to watch violent programs) and other ways the conflict could have been resolved.
- Talk about stereotyping and prejudice in TV programs.
- Discuss commercials with children. You can help your child recognize sales pitches given by commercials, and evaluate whether the messages in ads are realistic.
- Discuss the differences between reality and make-believe. Children interpret what they see differently than adults. They may not be able to distinguish fact from fiction. Explain differences between news and entertainment, and reality and make-believe.
- Share your own beliefs and values
- Find out how to talk to your child about the news. TV news and images can be violent, disturbing or sensational. Help your child put the news in context.
How do I guide my child's TV viewing?
- Find out how big a presence TV is in your kids' lives.
- Use this Screen Time Log to keep track of how much time they spend in front of the TV, video games, and the computer.
- Pay attention to what is in the TV shows your child watches.
- Encourage educational shows, possibly including: Sesame Street, other PBS kids’ shows, concerts, plays, sports events, nature and wildlife shows, documentaries, and real-life drama.
- The Ready to Learn Service on PBS offers quality educational kid's programs without commercials, plus information for parents and caregivers on how to use television as a learning tool. It's also in Spanish.
- Contact your local PBS station for information about children's programming or visit www.pbs.org.
- Avoid violent shows—keeping in mind that shows targeted to kids tend to be more violent than adult shows—especially cartoons.
- Consider installing and using a V-chip.
- ‘V’ is for violence. This chip lets you to block programs and movies that you don’t want your child to see. All new TV sets have internal V-chips, but you can get set-top boxes for TVs made before the year 2000.
- One drawback: News, sports, and ads (all of which often contain violent content) are not rated—so they will not be screened out.
- In other words, although it may be appealing to think that this technology will take care of the problem, the V-chip is not a substitute for staying involved in your child’s TV viewing.
- Use the TV Parental Guidelines rating system to help you determine which shows may be appropriate for your child.
- The TV Parental Guidelines are an age-group rating system (based on the familiar movie rating system) for TV programs.
- One drawback: the Guidelines don’t really give enough information about a program’s content to allow parents to make well-informed decisions about whether the show is appropriate or not.
- Limit late night television. Kids need to get to bed at a reasonable time, anyway. (See Sleep Problems on YourChild, for more on the widespread problem of sleep deprivation among kids.)
- Keep track of and reduce all kinds of screen time, including watching TV, watching DVDs, playing video games, and using the computer for games, messaging, and Internet surfing.
How do I set a good example for my kids?
- Don't underestimate the power of modeling. Model moderate use of television that doesn’t interfere with your healthy lifestyle.
- Don't leave the TV on all the time for background noise.
- Don't expect your child to have self-discipline when it comes to TV viewing if you don’t.
- Don't watch adult programs while your child is present.
- Spend your free time reading, exercising, and playing or talking with your child.
- Here are more healthy TV habits to adopt and share with your kids
How do I help my children plan their TV viewing?
- Plan a weekly TV schedule and teach your child to turn off the TV set at the end of their show.
- Do not allow channel surfing—only planned viewing.
- Use a TV guide or newspaper to decide which shows to watch instead of channel surfing until something gets your interest.
- Sit down each week with your child and choose suitable children’s and family programs from the weekly TV listings.
- Turn the TV on for these programs only. Turn it off and discuss the programs when they’re over.
- If the TV stays on your child will probably become interested in the next show and then it will be harder to stop watching.
What about children under age two?
With television programs—and now even a cable channel—designed specifically for babies, TV for kids under two years of age becomes an even bigger issue. The American Academy of Pediatrics takes a “better-safe-than-sorry” stance on TV for babies [3]:
“Children of all ages are constantly learning new things. The first 2 years of life are especially important in the growth and development of your child's brain. During this time, children need good, positive interaction with other children and adults. Too much television can negatively affect early brain development. This is especially true at younger ages, when learning to talk and play with others is so important.
“Until more research is done about the effects of TV on very young children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not recommend television for children age 2 or younger.”
- Instead of letting your baby or toddler watch TV, do interactive activities that will promote healthy brain development such as cuddling, talking, playing, singing, and reading together. This will get your little one off to a great start!
- Need to get stuff done? Have your little one “help” with your chores around the house (like matching clean socks on laundry day), or wear your child in a front carrier, sling or backpack so they can ride along and see what you are up to. A backpack is especially safe and handy when you are cooking.
- As you go about your chores, talk to your child about what you are doing.
- These chores are routine for you, but for your baby they are an incredible learning opportunity!
How can our family use TV to our benefit as a learning tool?
- TV can offer benefits to kids and families. It is a part of popular culture, and cannot be easily ignored, so learning how to use it wisely is an important skill, which takes guidance and practice.
- The Ready to Learn Service on PBS offers quality educational kid's programs without commercials, plus information for parents and caregivers on how to use television as a learning tool. Contact your local PBS station for information about children's programming or visit www.pbs.org.
- Take advantage of a learning opportunity. Watch TV with your children and teach them to be media savvy. Media literacy can offer protection from the potential negative effects of TV and other media.
Four key points to remember, from the National PTA [4], are:
- TV programs are created to achieve specific results—what is the message the show’s creators are trying to send?
- People interpret what they see in different ways—so watch with your kids and talk about what you both think about it.
- TV violence takes many forms—examples are: it can be slapstick, realistic, or not have real consequences.
- There is an underlying economic purpose to television (paid advertising).
How can we keep television in perspective?
Nancy W. Dickey, M.D., past president of the American Medical Association, in her Smart Parents’ Health Source column [5], suggests that:
“A good question to ask in every household—if a child (or an adult) wasn't watching TV, what else could he or she be doing?”
Where can I find more information?
- Television—find out what the research says about how TV affects kids.
- Media Literacy
- Video Games
- Reading
- Internet Safety
Written and compiled by Kyla Boyse, R.N. Reviewed by Bethany J. Sallinen, Ph.D.
Updated July 2009
