A few years ago, my 3 girls were TV junkies. Even up until today, they are still TV junkies and I have since a year ago, decided to put my foot down when I observed negative behavioral changes and unfavorable academic results from school as a result of spending more than 2 hours immersing themselves in front of the TV daily.
I now limit TV watching to only weekends or school holidays, with a maximum of 2 hours a day on their ‘happy days’. On school days, I sometimes relax a wee bit and allow a maximum of half an hour viewing session when homework and house work are completed. The same applies to playing games on the laptop and iPad. My kids hardly play with these gadgets these days. They are only allowed to use the laptop and iPad to assist them in their homework.
These are some of the negative consequences as a result of TV-watching that I have observed from my kids:
1) They get so overly soaked in TV watching that they are totally oblivious to anyone who is talking to them. Only when voice is raised or cane is flashed do they get out of their ‘TV trance’
2) Homework is not completed or totally not done because of TV addiction
3) The kids ignore my instructions because they do not want to leave the TV. This always makes me upset and angry, which drives me to holler at them. In fact, most of my screamings often result in the kids disregarding my instructions because their eyes and mind are affixed to the idiot box.
4) The kids fight among themselves because they fight over the remote control and who gets to watch what.
5) Kids throwing tantrums at me as a result of their ‘dependency’ taken away from them when their addiction is not fixed.
6) Kids become social recluse because they do not want to go out to socialize. They prefer to get slumped in front of the screen.
7) House chores are neglected. The result is a messy house and I have to do them myself.
8) Kids are not as active as they should be, they do not partake much in outdoor activities.
9) Watching too much TV will damage kids’ creativity, proportional growth of intelligence and several other physical skills of kids
I have several friends who have no TV at home. One of my friends home-school her 5 kids and she has no TV at home. I do not mind living sans TV. I am self sufficient with the computer and honestly, I have absolutely no time to watch the TV. I have threatened my kids many times that if they disregard my instructions, I will pick up the phone to cancel our Astro subscription right away.
TV watching is like fatal drugs where kids and adults can get addicted to. There must be a limit to how much TV kids can watch.
Do you allow your kids to watch TV? If yes, what is the time limit and frequency you set for them?
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