s/o TV Limits

[Rachel]

I'm curious how other families limit TV and your reasoning behind limiting the time.

 

We have one TV in our house, in general we don't turn it on when the kids are around.  We don't have a specific limit to the amount of time our kids are allowed to watch TV.  They watch a 30 minute kid show 2-3 times per week, shows my husband and I have DVRd or are on Amazon Prime and think are appropriate for their ages (6, 3, 1).  They also watch a movie a couple times a month.  If one of us is sick, my husband is out of town, or I'm pregnant the time is usually more, maybe a 30 minute show per day and a movie per week.  Right now the kids pretty much agree on show choices.

 

We limit the TV time mostly because we notice a behavior difference in our oldest son if he watches too much TV.  We also prefer that they spend their time being more active, if the TV is on they tend to sit down in front of it, spaced out.

 

Neither my husband nor I try to limit our TV watching, but we don't watch it much if the kids are around.  My husband usually turns on the big college game on Saturday and NFL game Sunday, but doesn't usually watch the whole thing.  Occasionally he'll watch a college basketball game on a weeknight.  He rarely watches an entire game unless it's his team or a really good game.  This is usually while the kids are napping/resting, but sometimes they'll sit with him.  I have 3 shows I watch regularly, I DVR them and watch them when I'm doing something else like dishes.  If my husband is gone in the evening, the TV is always on for background noise.

 

I can see that as our kids get older we'll need a more formal plan, so what do you do in your family?

[AlmiraGulch]

We don't really limit screen time at all, formally.  But sometimes I'll just decide there has been too much of it, whether it be TV or something else, and I make the kids turn everything off and do something else.

 

Recently DD10 was having some difficulty with one part of math that I was convinced she'd "get" if she just worked through it a little more, so I took away her iPod and most all TV until she put in the effort with her math.  It wasn't too long (a few days), she put in the time, demonstrated to me that the math concept was conquered, and she got her stuff back.  

 

Generally speaking both of my kids are excellent students and avid readers, so if they want to watch tv or play games or whatever I let them.  

[JustEm]

My rule is they may not turn it on by themselves without asking. If they ask it all depends on the moment, If I want more sleep at 7 am then its always yes.   If they've been real wild all day and need to be forced to relax so they don't get super cranky just before bed then its a yes. if there are a million other things I think they should be doing instead its a no.  It averages out to 1 hour a day per week.

[Mergath]

We limit all screen time to about an hour or less a day, except for Fridays when we have our family movie night.  Dd watches around forty minutes of kid's stuff on Netflix in the morning while I'm having coffee, and then after lunch she gets about twenty minutes of something educational on the computer or the tablet if she wants, usually Dreambox or something similar.  Otherwise, the tv is off.  I don't watch a ton of tv, so I usually just wait until after she's asleep to watch my stuff.

 

We limit screen time because imo they've proven fairly conclusively that too much screen time isn't great for kids.  I know not everyone agrees with me on that, and that's fine.  If I had my way I'd cut it down to twenty minutes in the morning, but with only one kid it's harder for her to find ways to entertain herself that don't involve me, and I need a lot of coffee to wake up in the morning. ;)

[Catwoman]

We have TVs all over the house and we don't limit screen time. In our case, having TV available at all times seems to have taken away the novelty of it, so my ds watches quite a bit of TV on some days, and none at all on other days.

[Jean in Newcastle]

No t.v. on weekdays until school is done.  Though we have been known to watch a Netflix show (usually an old t.v. show) during lunch time.  Dd used to watch some cartoons after school but that has become less and less by her choice.  Then the t.v. is off until 8 pm (more like 8:30 by the time we get home from activities).  We generally have the t.v. on from 8 - 10 pm but who is watching it depends on who's favorite show is on.  Weekends we might watch some more once you add in some Saturday morning t.v. but if we're busy, then it isn't on much.  

[Julie Smith]

My boys are very, very selective about what they want to watch. So I like to limit it so they don't grow tired of the one acceptable show. That way I can use tv as a babysitter when i want to.

 

Right now the only thing eldest will willing and happily watch is teen titans go, and maybe - if dh is watching it he might watch teen titans.

 

I know once he is done with the show he will have no interest in tv till another show happens to catch his fancy. And since he wouldn't watch other shows unless something wacky happens it will likely be a year or more before finding another acceptable show.

[sbgrace]

I have a child whose behavior will deteriorate with screen time. I have another who just seems to forget how to entertain himself if he's had too much. I think the 2nd is probably more typical.

 

We have more of a lack of availability/expectation than we do limits here. We don't have cable. I do use media sometimes for school (like BBC documentaries, Bill Nye, or Magic School Bus for a science topic). My son plays chess on the computer for 10 or so minutes every day. About once a week, the problems with media kid gets on google maps or finds pictures of homes he can use for his drawings.

 

When we are at grandparents, my more normal media responder often watches sports with grandpa on their cable tv.

 

But actually entertainment based media is just occasionally in our home. Because it's not available/routine/expected, it's not a struggle here. When we do it, it really is often a rough day for one of mine. It's weird how it affects him so much.

[Tammi K]

No formal limit here.

 

It sits in the family room. If someone want to watch they'll ask.

 

Sometimes, when they finish school work, or if there are a few hours in the evening when no one has anything to do, they might ask to watch something - usually a video from netflix. So, it happens maybe 2-3 times a week.

 

It's not 'forbidden fruit' and no one seems to have much interest in it.

[nd293]

Monday to Thursday they each get to watch one 30 minute programme, last thing before they go to bed. No other screen time - no games etc. Dh and I don't watch unless the kids are watching, although it does end up being more time, as I watch once the kids are asleep, and dh watches in the morning sometimes, before they are awake.

 

The weekend ends up being a free-for-all, and dh is just as bad as the kids. Controlling weekend TV is the next big family issue we need to deal with.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

AMDG

 

We have movie nights on Friday and Sunday. Sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes an episode. Right now we are watching our way through Perry Mason.

 

Once in a while we will watch on another night. For example, on Halloween we enjoyed watching the halloween episodes of some classic tv shows like Andy Griffith, et c.

 

Also, sometimes we might prefer an episode over a game on game night. That's pretty unusual, though, and generally instigated by a worn out parent.

 

We really don't have much of a problem with too much time on the television. By far, my bigger issue is content. As a result, we mostly watch classic tv and movies. Not exclusively, but darn near.

 

As for electronic games, they just don't really go over well here. We have a few but the new wears off so quickly that we hardly ever play them. So, again, I don't need to institute any limits. However, if a game came along that did catch on here, I'm sure I would apply limits pretty quickly.

[Carrie12345]

No official limits here. If I think they're ODing a bit, I tell them to turn it off. There have been phases (across 5 kids and nearly 15 years) of wanting to watch too much tv, but they've passed with a little redirecting. It's never been to what I would consider "problem level." They willingly get up and do creative, active, and educational things.

 

If I had a child or children that appeared to have some sort of television addiction, I'd just kep it turned off all together. I really don't need the stress of tv rules on top of monitoring chores, hygiene, manners, AND school!

[DoppeltGemoppelt]

My kids are not allowed to have any screen time during the school week. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they are allowed one hour after dinner. Usually my boys will choose to play video games. We also have Netflix and iPhones. I will usually not turn anything on for me until after they go to bed, but I do tend to read on my phone a lot (bad habit). My husband watches more, and I will make the kids leave the room when that happens. The kids also do not get screen time in the car or when we are waiting somewhere.

 

There are many reasons why I feel so strongly about screen time, but I won't go into detail and repeat what other posters have already said.

 

These rules are not in place for my 15 year old stepson. Screens were never the forbidden fruit for him. When he was younger, about 9 or 10, that may have worked out fine. He still spent time with his family got together with friends, and did many other things. Fast forward a couple of years and he is now completely addicted. It does not even feel like he is a family member anymore. He does not help out on his own, he does not do his homework, he rushes into his room after he gulped down his dinner in order to get back to his laptop, he is up all night talking very loudly to friends...I could keep going.

 

So yeah, I've seen the other side...and I don't like it one bit!

[bolt.]

Kids must ask for screen time, and I authorize it for 20 minutes at a time. They set the microwave timer for 21 minutes to allow time to turn it on. TV, hand held games, video games and computer time are all the same.

 

When I begin to prepare supper, they may have unlimited screen time after they tidy their stuff, until l call them to table.

 

After supper we have a couple of old shows we are watching through as a family, so there is sometimes screen time there.

 

My DH has chronic migraine headaches that impair his ability to be active most weekends. We had to decide if he would play video games alone, and I would keep the kids away, or if there were some 'safe to observe' games he could play with their company. According to need, they sometimes watch a little or a lot of passive video gaming (example, if Dad is actually parenting them and I am out, it's OK for this to be hours, because it is the best option at hand -- but we try not to do that very often.)

 

Similarly there are days when I use the screen "as a babysitter" if I am sick, or doing something important, or dangerously cranky -- and there's more screen time if they are sick and I want them still and restful.

[Chris in VA]

My oldest did not do well with too much TV, but that was still less than some allow. He went into film for a career choice, so I think he just likes the story aspect. He's home for a while now, and of course I don't limit it. He is more apt to watch a movie, tho.

 

My middle won't watch any. Never liked it. Always active. Not hyper, but has no interest.

Doesn't read, either, except when he has to or has absolutely nothing to do.

 

Youngest watches more than either of them. We watch things together--for the past 3 years, we've picked a Netflix show and watched it together. So far we've seen BBC Robin Hood, Call the Midwife, LOST (twice) and, oh, probably one other. She watches a few things at night. We don't have cable, just network TV (Fox, Ion, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and some weird foreign channels) No limits, unless I see she's been on the couch a while. She reads a lot and goes outside (less now that she's 13--we don't live in a neighborhood, and there's no one to play with, really) and is not overweight, so I"m ok with it.

 

I watch far more than I should. It's how I grew up. My parents watched every evening. They loved TV and still do. 

 

I really think it's the story aspect of it--wanting to know what happens to characters that seem real, just like in a book. 

 

If I could start over, I'd probably train myself to watch less and not offer it as much, but 

[Caroline]

We have this policy at our house, too.

 

 

We have TVs all over the house and we don't limit screen time. In our case, having TV available at all times seems to have taken away the novelty of it, so my ds watches quite a bit of TV on some days, and none at all on other days.

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

Formal limits, no;  gut limits, absolutely.  It's rare that anyone here will be glued for hours, anyway, and DD has become quite good at turning off after she's had her intermittent fill.  That's why we still pay for cable.  We tried Netflix, but the idea of planning to watch something required more forethought than we put into the activity in general.

[marbel]

We haven't had formal limits since my oldest was about 5, and I noticed he was getting a bit addicted, asking for one show after another.  We turned the tv off for a week - I even bought the poster for TV Turnoff Week and taped it over the screen.  After that week of no tv was up, somehow things were better and we haven't really had a problem.

 

We are not a big tv-watching family anyway but the kids do watch a few tv shows on netflix or amazon streaming.  They always ask first.

 

I know different things work for different people but sometime I think people's methods are so complicated and it seems that puts so much focus on the the tv (or whatever screen) which makes it a bigger deal than it needs to be.  I'd rather take the focus off, allow tv when asked for it, and make sure there are plenty of other attractive options for spending free time.

[Wheres Toto]

We have TVs all over the house and we don't limit screen time. In our case, having TV available at all times seems to have taken away the novelty of it, so my ds watches quite a bit of TV on some days, and none at all on other days.

 

This is our experience too.  It will vary based on outside activities, weather, moods, etc.  Even when it is on, my kids are usually playing and doing other thing and barely paying attention to it. 

 

They have slightly more screens than I like at the moment since their school is on screens, and they are at my mothers all day and she is really limited on getting them outside for now.  But, that's a temporary situation that should ease up once we get through the holidays.

[MissKNG]

No limit. If my kids sat and watched TV for even 15 minutes at a time, I would be thrilled.

[MysteryJen]

We had strict limits in place when the kids were little, but it was easier then (no netflix or amazon). We have no limits now, but we don't turn the TV on during the school day, unless we all watch an assigned film or documentary. We are gone for activities from 3 to 7:30 or later Monday through Friday, so not much is watched.

 

On the weekend, kids will watch if they have time, and dh and I watch sports.

 

Everyone wanted to watch more when it was tightly restricted. Now, they watch some, read some, play some. It is much more balanced now.

[Farrar]

No formal system. Our routine is that unless we're sick or there's a special occasion or something, that screen time can't start until around 5pm. But after that is open season on any recreational screens, including TV. Sometimes they watch a lot, other times not much. Sometimes we're out at that time of day, so they just miss it then. At holidays, we tend to go no limits for awhile and let them really burn out on it.

 

During the day, if it's not a busy day we usually watch something for school as well. Lately that's been Young Indiana Jones. Before, it was animal documentaries for a long time. I don't count that the same way. The kids are also allowed to use screens for creative purposes any time, such as making movies or programming, but that doesn't include TV.

 

I find the formal systems really tedious to implement. I'd much rather have things loose and have the kids not be grubbers about it. I feel like we have a decent balance.

[NicAnn]

We used to limit it to just a show or movie once a week. Now that we've been without tv for so long, there are normal limits. The kids just don't care about it anymore.

 

I limit myself now because I'll become a tv junkie if I let myself!

[Berta]

We have TVs all over the house and we don't limit screen time. In our case, having TV available at all times seems to have taken away the novelty of it, so my ds watches quite a bit of TV on some days, and none at all on other days.

 

Same here. My only restriction is that the kids are not allowed to have it on while doing school work. I have a small tv by my desk and if I am awake, it is on. I have a hearing loss and a completely quiet room freaks me out. I don't sit and watch much but I need the noise. I have one show a week (Survivor) that I sit down and actually watch. Other then that, I have the news or weather channel on during the day. (I know, I'm strange).

 

My DH watches the big tv in the living room at night and each of the kids have a tv in their rooms. That said, the ones in their rooms are hardly ever on and I was thinking of removing the one in my younger daughters room to make room for more shelves.

[Lizzie in Ma]

Other than no tv til school is done, we have no limits.  We love movie marathons as a family or tv shows we find and love.  Sometimes we watch a ton, other times we all have other things to do.  No one here has a problem shutting and off and doing something else if we feel like it.

[extendedforecast]

We have TVs all over the house and we don't limit screen time. In our case, having TV available at all times seems to have taken away the novelty of it, so my ds watches quite a bit of TV on some days, and none at all on other days.

It's the same here. TV viewing is a non-issue with my kids probably for the same reason. My 5yo son gets a little more screen time because he loves to play minecraft on the Xbox. The good thing is that he gets inspired while playing minecraft to play imaginatively with his toys. So after about 20 minutes, he abandons the minecraft to play, whether it's with Legos, imaginext, playmobil or with plush toys.

[Pawz4me]

I'm a firm believer in the more forbidden/off limits one makes something, the more valuable and desirable that thing becomes.  OTOH, things that are freely available usually very quickly lose their allure.  Thus we've never limited TV (or computer) time, and they've never been an issue.

 

On a related note, we were very recently asked to participate in the Nielsen (sp?) ratings survey.  We all got a good laugh out of it, saying that it certainly wouldn't take much time to fill out, since none of us watch much.

[marbel]

Some of the other replies reminded me of something.  I've seen time limits set up an entitlement attitude in a child's mind.  If a child is allowed 30 minutes of tv or whatever, he/she may feel entitled to that and expect to have it no matter what else is going on.   So, end of a busy day, bedtime... ."Hey, I didn't get my 30 minutes of tv time!"   Then it gets into banking it for the next day... so complicated. 

[Joshin]

We limit, but only because DS13 literally becomes addicted to the screen. We're talking all loss of the ability to function, physical withdrawal once it's gone, depression, the whole 9 yards. We haven't tested it in years, but at 8 he would pee his pants because he couldn't force himself to walk away and use the bathroom. DS8 has never had these issues and he isn't big on TV, although he does like to have NASATV on as background noise when he's puttering around. I've never been big on TV, and DH rarely watches anything beyond movies or a documentary. We don't have cable and only have one tv, which depends on Xbox/Netflix or an hdmi cable hooked up to the computer to show anything.

 

We used to have strict limits -- two hours a week. This accounted for TV, video games, and non-school computer time. As DS13 as gotten older and learned his own limits, we have loosened up. DS8 is pretty much unrestricted because he just doesn't need to be. He'd rather be on the computer than watching TV, and he mainly wants the computer to look stuff up and research. He just needs to ask permission before turning on a screen. DS13 also has to ask permission and set a timer. No more than 1 hour at a time, then he must take a break for at least a couple of hours. He doesn't need to ask for educational (non-game, in other words) computer time, but he is expected to take a break after an hour. I'm actually very proud of him. He got a smart phone a couple months ago, and he was having issues regulating his time on app games. So now he only keeps one game on his phone and uses the timer function on the phone each time he decides to play. Since he self regulated well, we do not monitor his phone screen time.

[SKL]

I also do not have a specific limit.  We simply do not turn it on.  My kids are aware that I consider TV to be a brain sucker.  In our case, this is because one of my kids really does get sucked into the TV (i.e., she is lost to the rest of the world) when it is on.  (I realize that is not the case with all kids.  When I was a kid, I watched as much TV as I wanted and that was not a problem.)  I have also noticed how much more obnoxious my kids are to each other after they've been watching popular stuff on TV.  In other words, IMO we aren't missing anything of great value.

 

I don't watch TV either.  So it isn't part of our routine.  Our days are filled with other things.  When the kids have free time, they are thrilled for the opportunity to read, play with their toys, or paint their nails.  ;)

 

They see it at aftercare (at school), on Sundays when they watch sports with my sister, and when they visit other people.  We also have DVDs that I don't mind them watching at certain times (with my express permission).

[Joyofsixreboot]

Our only limit is if I say" Turn it off", it being any screen. That needs to be immediate. Don't " just one more" me. Overall they do many other things so I don't worry. Dh is a much, much bigger user of TV. He wants it on even if no one is in the room?

[TKDmom]

We limit, but only because DS13 literally becomes addicted to the screen. We're talking all loss of the ability to function, physical withdrawal once it's gone, depression, the whole 9 yards.

This is my 8yo right now--right down to the rest of the behavior that I snipped. Ugh. I've always been at a loss for how to handle screen time. When the kids were little, I never limited screen time. But then, when oldest dd was in kindergarten, I noticed she es getting up earlier and earlier to watch tv before school. So we made a rule against TV before school.

 

At this point, I don't have a formal limit, but I need to set one. Dc will sit in front of a screen for hours at a time, to the exclusion of all else, if they are given free reign with electronics. And then they're behavior is abominable. And life is miserable for all of us.

[QueenCat]

We have TVs all over the house and we don't limit screen time. In our case, having TV available at all times seems to have taken away the novelty of it, so my ds watches quite a bit of TV on some days, and none at all on other days.

 

This...... when we had restrictions, there was more of an obsession with being in front of a screen. Without limits, less desire. That said, in the beginning, when we stopped having limits, there was some overdoing it but that went away in about a month.

[Maela]

We don't have formal limits, but the kids know that I don't like them watching a lot unless one of us is sick (like lying on the couch for most of the day sick).  They watch 0-3 'educational' shows from Netflix/Discovery Streaming a day.  Usually as part of school time (a documentary, magic school bus, salsa, liberty's kids, etc.).  On Sundays, we have Family Movie Night.  We watch one movie that dh and I usually pick out.  We try to pick out something we'll all enjoy, usually something that we remember fondly from our childhoods.

 

ETA:  Forgot Saturday mornings: two episodes of Gummi Bears (a favorite of dh when he was a kid).  :-)

 

[Rachel]

We limit, but only because DS13 literally becomes addicted to the screen. We're talking all loss of the ability to function, physical withdrawal once it's gone, depression, the whole 9 yards. We haven't tested it in years, but at 8 he would pee his pants because he couldn't force himself to walk away and use the bathroom.

My 6 year old is this way when he watches too much TV.  Too much seems to be more than about 30 minutes.  If he's been really active that day, and I let him watch a movie, he doesn't act out too much once it's over, but if he's been doing quiet things, he does.  He almost never notices he needs to use the bathroom when he's watching TV.

[LMD]

We watch too much TV.  I fully admit it's laziness on my part.

 

I let the kids watch about an hour in the morning while I have my coffee, visit here, and generally wake up.  I'm NOT a morning person.  I do feel bad about this, and there are some problems and behaviours that I do not like which I believe are a direct result.  But for a variety of good and not-so-good excuses, it is what it is at the moment.

 

Then it's generally off while we do school/other things during the day.  They sometimes use the computer for school things.  The general rule is that it's off until DH gets home, unless I say otherwise (which I do sometimes).  They'll often watch or play with him, or while I'm cooking dinner...

[*Lulu*]

We have an informal, formal system.

 

Each child gets 12- 30min. tabs to use for all screens each week. (After school work is done)

 

We also have times that the screen is allowed and I do not make them pull a tab. (Anything for school, family movie time, when we are folding laundry, when I want a nap or shower, anytime I am sick and need a break.............) :P

 

Lately, since I've been dealing with medical issues, I have had a "if school is done knock yourself out" screen time policy.

 

The system keeps one child in particular from OD-ing on screens and monopolizing them to the point other kids who want to play feel they are being slighted.

[Ali in OR]

We chose to not have t.v. while raising kids. Dh and I used to watch before kids and when we paid attention, we realized that there was objectionable content everywhere. Even when watching sports programs, the commercials were really not acceptable viewing for kids (I don't remember specific content, just that I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't want my kid watching this if I had a kid who could see and understand--oldest dd was born by then, but she's disabled). Our solution is simply to live without cable t.v. Without it, we get PBS perfectly and nothing else. We have a nice DVD collection of our favorite movies and get others from the library regularly. Dh can get our favorite college football games on the computer and hook it up to the t.v. But in general, we find better ways to unwind and relax, like reading, crafting, playing creatively, etc. 

[TravelingChris]

No limits and no need for any.  None of the kids were tv obsessed.  My two that live in this house only occasionally watch shows and we consider watching a show together family time.  We watch fairly little but the younger generation watches less, it seems.

[LostSurprise]

We don't have cable. We do have some instant streaming. 

 

If everyone is fulfilling their obligations they have X amount of screen time. For those under 14, it's 3.5 hrs a week. My 14 year old has 5 hrs a week. Time is open between 7-9 (although the 13 and below crowd go to bed at 8:30). Friday night is movie and pizza night. Saturday screen time is at parental discretion. Severely limited or no screen time on Sundays. 

 

My kids tend to spend their screen time playing games or online. They save television for Fridays/Saturdays and other parental approved times. We usually let them pick and vote. 

 

This works best for us. Oldest ds is extremely visual and will watch tv all day if allowed. I was like that too. 

[Rosie_0801]

We don't have a tv so anything we watch is watched on my laptop. My daughter is very much the video learner, so we watch a lot. I am very picky about *what* she watches though, because of her Echolalia.

[GSOchristie]

Everyone is allowed 30 minutes of screen time here, they can watch together or each watch a different show.  Asher and Jackson sometimes choose to play the ipad or my phone rather than watch tv.  Our pediatrician told me last week that he suggested limiting it to 2 hours a day, which seems really excessive to me.  Asher is like a pressure cooker, when he is watching a screen he is super still, but all the energy is building.  The second the screen is turned off he is off like a tornado of naughtiness, the longer he watches, the more violent the storm.

[Lisbeth]

We pretty much don't allow tv for the kids. They may occasionally watch a dvd. My kids aren't into tv programs. Computer time is more of a challenge for us.

[Joanne]

I think I did every level of "TV" usage minus complete "none".

 

When my kids were very young, I was a stay at home mom with no additional kids in the house. I had the most ideals then, too. They watched limited TV. When I wasn't pregnant and didn't "need" to nap,it was less than one hour a day.

 

Later, it was none during the day because I ran daycares. I didn't like to use TV for them, and I had a couple of screen addiciton prone clients.

 

Later, it was only after schoolwork, but not if friends were out and available to play.

 

I don't *personally* believe that TV/screens are a huge contributor to overweight kids. That is because I've not seen activity tied to weight in research and also because I have lived in "go outside and play" neighborhoods and I don't see couch potato kids (but I do believe potatoes contribute ;)). All screen addicted kids I have known have been lean. Just anecdotal.

 

I seldom censored, but I did not allow: Rugrats, Arthur and Ed, Ed and Eddy

 

My dd was on a "Full House" jag that about did me in.

 

None of my kids are screen addiction prone. RIght now, one is doing biology homework, one (the only one who is not a student) is playing X Box live after being out and about all day, and one is reading literature associated with school. This is pretty typical. The TV may come on if Amazing Race is on tonight.

 

[MinivanMom]

Our kids don't watch tv. We have a movie night once a week where we watch a movie as a family, but that's pretty much it. If the kids are sick then I will sometimes turn on movies to keep them quiet. We also watch the occasional special show or documentary; we will probably watch The Sound of Music live on Thursday. I also never make a big deal over how much they watch at other kids' houses or when we are visiting people. But on an average week, they only watch the one family movie.

 

We didn't set out to limit tv. In fact, we don't have any rules about tv or limiting screen time at all. We just don't watch it. Our lifestyle contributes to this, though, because we only have one tv. It's hooked up to a dvd player, but we don't have cable or satellite tv so we only get the channels that come in over the bunny ears. The kids are just used to the tv being off and being busy doing other things.

[Farrar]

I'm kind of pleased that so many people don't have specific limits.  I feel like most of the people I know have much stricter rules about TV usage than us, but I also believe that the complicated systems, the forbidden fruit thing, the entitlement that often comes along with your "screen allotment" time, etc. are all bigger hassles than just raising kids who have a healthy attitude.  And I also don't accept that there's a direct correlation between "terrible things!" (be they obesity, stupidity, or whatever) and TV watching.  To make our lives simpler, we do have moderate limits - none until late afternoon except on holidays - but I'm not super strict about it and I like how my kids seem to enjoy TV (hey, so do I!) but also to have a variety of interests and not be glued to the screen.

[*Lulu*]

The biggest issue we run into is that all our tv viewing is via Amazon and Netflix so when the kids discover ashow they like they don't just want to watch an episode........

 

They want to watch every.available.season.

 

Netflix bingeing.

 

The closest my friends and I ever came to it growing up was the year my BFF's mom taped every episode of Jem and we would stay up all night watching it.

[Farrar]

The biggest issue we run into is that all our tv viewing is via Amazon and Netflix so when the kids discover ashow they like they don't just want to watch an episode........

 

They want to watch every.available.season.

 

Netflix bingeing.

 

The closest my friends and I ever came to it growing up was the year my BFF's mom taped every episode of Jem and we would stay up all night watching it.

 

We've solved this sort of by me often watching the new show with them.  So then if I'm not available, they'll wait, because they really like sharing it.  But I know this won't last much longer, especially when they start to get to episodic shows that have more than a couple dozen episodes.

 

You know, I read the other day that networks are no longer going to be canceling shows that have been on for awhile out of the blue without allowing the writers and producers to wrap up the story lines because they want to get residuals from people binge watching on Netflix and people don't binge watch shows that don't have conclusions.  It's the new way we expect to see TV, I guess.

[nmoira]

We don't limit viewing to a certain number of hours, but the TV remains off until 5 in the winter and 6ish in the summer, except for the occasional program or YouTube vids for school. However, the girls don't choose to watch it every night, sometimes going for weeks without (except as noted below). It's not hard because we don't have programs to "keep up with" as we're without cable and broadcast channels, just Netflix, YouTube, and DVDs. Our big rule/custom is that the TV is *never* on in the background -- either someone is actively watching it or it's used to play music or off. Period.

 

Once a week I'll put a new-to-them movie on. I watch it and they can stick around or not. Duck Soup was a big hit last week.

 

DD the Elder and I also watch an episode from one of my favourite TV series right before her bedtime. We're almost finished Father Ted. :) Sometimes she watches with her dad instead... they're going through the old Doctor Who episodes.

[Snow]

My kids watch about two hours each day. I think it's all relative. It's usually 1 hour in morning (because they get up so early!) and 30-45 minutes before bed. Sometimes they get 30 while I cook dinner.

 

They are awake for about 13 hours a day. We do school for 2-3 hours. So, even if they watch tv 2 hours a day, they still have 8 hours a day of mostly free open time. That's a lot. Now, sometimes they have a sport or activity and of course there's eating and chores, but otherwise they have hours upon hours to read, be creative, play, etc.

 

If they were in school 7 hours a day plus 2 hours of before and after care, I would restrict their tv much more.

 

Another factor to our decision: even I like some of the shows they watch. If they were watching what I consider to be junk, I might be more restrictive.