Eight Principles for
Television Viewing
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Limit television to 10 hours per week.
A nice way to do this is allot a "TV allowance," just as a
child might receive a monetary allowance each week. Try making paper
slips with the phrase "1/2 hour TV time" written on them. A child
might receive 20 such slips every Sunday night, and "pay" 1 slip for each
show or half hour of video games they play. This way the total TV
exposure is limited, and you do not have to haggle over each show.
One family limits television viewing by trading a half hour
coupon for each book the children read. This family reports their
children rarely watch more than three hours of television a week—they
are too busy reading.
If this is too complicated, try limiting
viewing to two hours per day with no carry over; so, if the time is not used
on Monday, the television is NOT available for four hours on Tuesday.
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No one should eat while the TV
is on.
Eating in front of the TV is a
prescription for obesity. That's where the phrase "couch potato" comes
from!
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Talk about the show with your
kids.
Ask for your children's
thoughts about what they are seeing. ("Would you have done what that
character did?" "Can you think of a toy that's more fun than that
one?").
For an insight into the
characters, ask which character they identify with most strongly; for
example, in The Lion King, would it be Mufaso, Scar, Simba or Nala,
and why?
Talk about how the TV
characters solved their problems. See if you can come up with a better
(or more realistic) solution.
Discuss TV violence.
Try to decide why it happened. See if your child can think of a
non-violent solution to the same situation.
Vote on whether or not
each show is worth watching again. Keep your family's decisions on a
wall chart, so everyone can refer to it.
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Talk about commercials.
Television is a business,
and businesses exist to make money. From the start, begin teaching
your young children about commercials.
Compare toys you have purchased or toys and food you see on
shopping trips, with the claims made n the advertisements. Have your
children "redo" the commercial based on what they know about the product.
Make children aware of the large amount of time devoted to
commercials during their favorite shows. Time them, or count them, for
fun.
More simply, consider using the "mute" on the remote control
during the commercials.
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Take control of the TV.
Don't let television schedules run your schedule. Make
a chart for each family member. Let him or her record what they watch,
and how much time is spent. Add up the totals over a week.
Keep the TV out of kid's rooms, and out of heavily used
family areas. Don't put a TV in a playroom.
Rent, borrow, buy or make video tapes. "Time shift"
using the video recorder, then plan a "family TV night" as a family
activity. Try to avoid random TV watching, such as "channel surfing."
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Put the TV in perspective for your children.
Tell your child that the violence is "faked" for TV shows.
Tell them how it is done.
Help your child think of nonviolent solutions to TV
situations.
Reassure children that their world is basically safe.
TV news and shows often leave children feeling unsettled. Explain that
"news" is chosen so that people will watch.
With younger children, watch cartoons carefully. Point
out when "real life" won't work that way. . .like dropping an anvil on a
person's head.
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Use TV to learn.
Ask your child to draw a picture, or write a story, about a
show he has seen.
Have your child list TV shows that have interested him or
her. Then take trips to the library to find books that can tell you
more. Try to visit sites he/she found interesting on TV.
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Practice makes perfect.
All of these suggestions assume that the parents are aware of
what their children are watching on TV, and how much. The more you teach
your children to be active TV viewers, the more natural these skills will
become. Pretty soon, you'll be showing your kids a new way to think
for themselves.
What We Can Do
References
The authors gratefully acknowledge the information and
statistics and ideas from the following sources:
American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Communications,
1995, pages 786-787.
American Academy of Pediatrics Speaker's Kit, Children,
Channels, Choices: TV and Your Family.
Contemporary Pediatrics, January 1996, Sex, Teens and the
Media, Strausberger, V.C., page 29.
"Dad, Do You Know How to
Read?"