How much TV do your children watch per day?

[mo2]

Maybe 1-1/2 to 2 hrs per day. I will usually let her sit down and watch a movie before she falls asleep at night, while I am getting the baby to sleep, finishing up the dishes, etc. It is one of the easiest ways to get her to wind down for the night. It really varies though. There are a lot of days we don't even turn the tv on at all, especially now that it's warmer outside.

[Jill- OK]

...because there might be a day where it isn't turned on at all, and then days like yesterday when we watched something like three movies in a row! (Okay...I napped on the couch for some of that, lol. Taking a break from formal studies...what can I say?)

 

My ideal day goes like this; everyone (under 18; I can't really put limits on Dad) gets to pick a 'show' a day, to watch after lessons are done (if we're not on a break, which only happens infrequently, and for short periods of time). When we don't have cable (we do at the moment) then this translates to a DVD or video, but when we have access to TV channels, it means daily episodes of things like Thomas the Tank Engine, The Backyardigans, Mythbusters, and Man vs. Wild. And, for my oldest dd...iCarly. (Sigh).

 

I try to encourage and applaud non-electronic choices, when I feel it's getting out of hand, and only impose limits (in the form of saying 'no' when they ask) if it's really imbalanced. It's more rewarding to me (and, I believe, more positive in the long run) when they choose something non-screen related, rather than have it forced on them. (But like I said, I'm not at all opposed to doing that if it's getting out of hand and I feel it's truly imbalanced.)

 

I don't go for limits/systems in the form of tokens, coupons, etc., but then again...we haven't had behavioral problems linked to TV, and I'd rather just have 'natural' limits (the kind that come when there's only one TV, phone, or computer, and five kids, lol). I don't care for very little ones watching very much at all, but when you have several older siblings, it gets hard to police, so my standards have fallen with each successive child, lol.

 

Littlest one doesn't get computer time (3yo). I'd rather have waited until the six and seven year olds were eight to start computer time, but...see the 'standards falling with each successive child' explanation above. ;-) (They get to spend about 20 minutes doing Quarter Mile Math or somesuch on the computer now, in addition to their television watching, but for the most part I agree with Jane Healy's advice about very young children and screen time; I think she's where I got the 8yo figure).

[amy g.]

Zero.

 

We do not allow TV.