How much television do your kids watch?

CanonDjango

CanonDjango

Edward Snowden
Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,927
Name
CJ
Edit My Images
No
My kids are both under 6 and they watch a 15 minute show before bed on a weekday and usually at a weekend they watch a disney movie or something.

That's all they watch on television all week - the rest of the time they are, well, being kids - playing with toys or running around etc

Yesterday my daughter had a friend round to play for the day and all she kept doing was asking if she could watch telly, why wasn't the telly on etc. Came to the realisation that she must literally have the TV on all day when she is at home.

Is that the norm with most kids? Are we unusual for only having a small amount of television on during the day?
 
CanonDjango said:
Is that the norm with most kids? Are we unusual for only having a small amount of television on during the day?
Click to expand...

'Unusual' is possibly a bit strong however I suspect most kids watch far more TV than that.

I have 4 kids and 3 of them are under 6.

The oldest (14) doesn't watch much TV but she spends a lot of time on her ipad / PC.

The little 3 watch a lot of TV but I'll admit that (working from home) I often put it on for them so I can get on and do the things I need to do without distraction.

I don't have a problem with them watching TV as long as it's not mindless rubbish.

Some kid's TV programs are very informative and they also love wildlife programs. It amazes me me how much they learn from them.
 
Its interesting because it's not like we have deliberately not allowed tv on during the day or anything. When kids are young they dont watch telly because they have the attention span of 1 minute so our kids always just played and we just kept it that way as it's what they were used to
 
i personally watch very little tv as in tv programmes but i do like to watch a good film and do so quite often

the tv in this house gets switched on first thing in the morning and switched off last thing at night it's just the way it is
the sad part is quite a lot of the time nobody is actually watching the damn thing but you try n switch it off i can guarantee within 10 minutes somebody will switch it back on again, i give up years ago trying to switch it off when nobodies really watching it

when the house is empty it remains off but even if just one person is in it'l be switched on regardless if it's being watched or not
it's just the way it is and to be honest iv'e got used to it

in my defence this is quite a busy house with 5 kids and my eldest daughter who lives across the road who seems to be a permanent fixture, there always seems to be somebody at home

what makes it even more ironic is the kids have little interest in the tv, i watch very little so i suppose i'l have to blame the wife :)
 
cosmicma said:
i personally watch very little tv as in tv programmes but i do like to watch a good film and do so quite often

the tv in this house gets switched on first thing in the morning and switched off last thing at night it's just the way it is
the sad part is quite a lot of the time nobody is actually watching the damn thing but you try n switch it off i can guarantee within 10 minutes somebody will switch it back on again, i give up years ago trying to switch it off when nobodies really watching it

when the house is empty it remains off but even if just one person is in it'l be switched on regardless if it's being watched or not
it's just the way it is and to be honest iv'e got used to it

in my defence this is quite a busy house with 5 kids and my eldest daughter who lives across the road who seems to be a permanent fixture, there always seems to be somebody at home

what makes it even more ironic is the kids have little interest in the tv, i watch very little so i suppose i'l have to blame the wife :)
Click to expand...

thats the impression I got from my daughters friend. It was a case of "why isn't the telly on" not sure she was that bothered about actually sitting and watching it, just was unsure why it wasn't actually on.
In our house the telly only goes on if there is a specific thing we are wanting to watch. The rest of the time music is on, pretty much all day music is playing
 
My kids (Aged 4 and 6) watch a film or something similar as chill out time at bedtime or perhaps after school if they are tired for half an hour. I would say they normally watch TV for 30 mins maybe 60 mins absolute max per day....rest of the time they are playing. We were away from the UK over Christmas with no TV and they didn't miss it at all. There's some decent programmes for kids (mostly on the BBC) but there's also some utter s***e!

Have definitely come across kids whose default activity is watching TV which just can't be good for them. Decent toys/games/puzzles are a good investment.
 
Nearly 1 year old - nothing.
4 year old - typically 20-35 minutes max a day.

He did get to watch 2 films over Xmas and commented on how long they were. We'll probably introduce this as a once a week weekend treat.

He is pretty active though so I'm not going to divert him from that for now.

Most of his friends watch more though I think - and they actually show them some TV at his school nursery for some reason...
 
akr said:
Nearly 1 year old - nothing.
4 year old - typically 20-35 minutes max a day.

He did get to watch 2 films over Xmas and commented on how long they were. We'll probably introduce this as a once a week weekend treat.

He is pretty active though so I'm not going to divert him from that for now.

Most of his friends watch more though I think - and they actually show them some TV at his school nursery for some reason...
Click to expand...

pretty much the same as me then.
 
When we married we took the decision not to have a TV, and 33 years later that's not changed. Our children would play or read, generally, though when they were older, probably around 10-12ish, we got a computer that could play back DVDs, and they would sometimes watch one of them (I can still recite bits of Robin Hood, prince of thieves from it having been played so much). Later still the internet took over, for me included, and I waste far too much time on computers now, even though it's been enormously educational too.
 
Ours watch quite a bit - partly as a distraction when I am working from home but they watch a varied range. My son (7 in April) watches the obvious cartoons but also liked the Chris packam nature program on the other day, and will watch any football match as he is football mad! Disney films are always a winner. Some things tie in, he reads Horrid Henry books but likes watching the cartoons and film which encourages him to read more.
 
hmm. bit of peppa pig (goes to abbatoir) in the morning, and about 15 mins at night... 2 1/4 yr old twins, more intersted in ipads or a laptop or "daddy computer"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top