How Much TV Should Your Child Watch?

Television has a big influence on our society. It influences what we buy, where we shop, what we eat, basically how we live our daily lives. Everyday we are inundated with both positive and negative images from the television programs that we watch.

Many parents have used the TV as a built in babysitter. Most children start watching TV almost as soon as they are born and with movies that are out there for very young kids, parents are encouraged to let their children watch. Children tend to watch as much as four hours per day before they enter school and during their school years, sometimes even more, such as weekends and holidays.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children should only watch two hours of quality programming per day and for children under two, there should be NO TV time at all. This is because the first two years are critical to brain development and therefore these young children should be spending time interacting with other children, parents and learning things such as cognitive, social, and emotional learning which TV does not provide.

Research has also shown that children that spend many hours in front of the TV are more prone to be overweight. Studies also show that children that tend to view violent acts such as murders tend to believe that the world is a scary place. Furthermore, research has shown that one of the most targeted viewing audiences is young children. This means that advertisers are hoping their products will appear to young viewers, although the merchandise may not be appropriate for children.

What goes better with watching TV than having a snack? Studies have shown that the extended watching of television indeed adds weight gain to the average child thus causing an alarming rise in obesity among young children.

Other side effect that prolonged TV watching can induce are poor concentration, limited critical thinking skills, poor interaction skills and other learning disabilities. There are things that can be done to combat the effects that TV has on children today:

- Watch only shows that aim to educate, such as public television or channels such as 'Discovery' or 'Animal Planet'.

- Tape their favorite shows without commercials.

- Visit the public library for family friendly videos.

- Allow only healthy snacks during TV time such as cut up fresh fruits and veggies along with non fattening dips.

-Teach by example. Keep the TV turned off a majority of the time. If TV must be watched, use an egg timer or other form of keeping track of the time that children are allowed to watch.

-Emphasize different activities besides watching television such as reading, playing games, pursuing a hobby or doing crafts. Games and other outlets will allow your child to use their creative thinking instead of having the TV do their thinking for them.

-View what you child is watching. Watch it with them or before they do. Even PG 13 programs can contain some nudity or coarse language in it. Utilize the parental controls on your television. This allows you to block programs that you may consider inappropriate for your child.

-Pursue other activities with your child. They do not have to cost any money. Go for a walk, go to the library, do things outside like bike riding or roller blading. Be creative and they will lose interest in TV on their own.

The amount of television watched should be limited and the TV should not be used as your child's babysitter. Encourage your child to get off the coach and pursue other activities.