How to Shape Your Child's TV Viewing Habits

A ton of articles have been written about how much TV a child should be allowed to watch, and at what age. However, what many parents don’t realize is that watching the tube is an imitatable behavior—if a three-year-old sees mommy watching afternoon TV, she’s likely to want to watch afternoon TV to be more like mommy. Here’s how to set a good example for your kids, so they don’t grow up into a new generation of couch potatoes.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Don’t leave the set on when you’re not watching it. Many people leave their TV sets on as background noise—and granted, this is an easy way to feel less isolated when you’re home alone caring for a toddler. However, if a kid grows up with the TV on all the time, some small part of her (when she grows up) will only feel comfortable when, well, the TV is on all the time.

2. Only watch TV for an hour or so. Rather than letting your child see you zone out in front of the tube (or, worse, letting her zone out next to you on the couch), try to restrict your TV viewing to short increments—say, an hour in the early morning, another hour in the late afternoon, and an hour in the early evening. When your kids have gone to bed, it’s okay to watch late-night TV, but keep the sound down so they don’t know what you’re doing.

3. Be selective. Thanks to “American Idol” and similar reality shows, an entire generation of children is growing up to believe that it’s okay to make fun of less-talented people and denigrate their looks. By the same token, afternoon soap operas teach conflict and hostility, and afternoon talk shows teach even more conflict and hostility (and don’t exactly provide valuable role models).

4. Be critical of what you’re watching. If you have to watch TV, there’s no reason to swallow everything the boob tube says (and to let your kid witness you in the act). If a show is particularly manipulative and vicious, comment out loud about why you don’t like it, and change the channel. Similarly, try not to sit rapt during commercials, unless you want your grown, unemployed son to spend his afternoons watching the Home Shopping Network.

5. Put the emphasis on movies. Movies (preferably on cable, without commercials) occupy the less dangerous end of the vast spectrum of TV entertainment. If your kids see you watching black-and-white fare on Turner Classic Movies, rather than trash programming on Fox, the worst they can do is grow up to be old-movie buffs—and that’s not such a bad outcome in the larger scheme of things.

[CCrock]

on 4/6/2009 Great advice and congrats on being member of the day!

[lucindaroth]

on 3/27/2009 Great advice

[sunshineandrose]

on 3/17/2009 Good advice activies crafts and sports are better for kids.

[offgrid]

on 12/23/2008 Play card games, paint paintings, draw drawings, listen to music, dance, build a snow man, go snow-shoeing, skiing, walking, gardening, swiffering - anything is better than TV.

[Quickstar]

on 12/14/2008 I so don't want my children chompin' on the T.V. good write. 5*