Monitoring kids' television time

With the advent of television, computer games and electronic toys, children today are bored, distracted and easily lured away from their studies. Kids of two and three years of age know how to turn on the television set and parents actually put their kids in front of the television to keep them occupied. They don’t know the drawbacks and dangers of radiation and too much technology. Watching too much television is bad for any child and should be monitored to ensure that your kids do not become computer game junkies and addicted to television and video games. Yes, children as young as four and five are glued to their electronic toys and to the television screens. For some kids it starts at age one and two with toddlers in diapers watching cartoons, being entertained by an electronic box.



Things you can do to avert problems later on


• Introduce your child early to the magic of words and read to him or her every day. You could start off with a children’s book with the different pictures of animals, as well as their names and what sounds they make. Ask your child to repeat the names of the animals.

• Take your toddler in a stroller to the park for an hour of fresh air rather than have her inside the house watching television. Watching too much television is unhealthy and if not curbed by how many hours they watch television or play with the computer, they can become addicted.

• Watching too much television also makes a child lazy. They don’t study, don’t do their chores, and become couch potatoes. If a child has no homework to do that day, it is better for him to be outside playing basketball with his friends or kicking ball. There should be balance in a child’s life.

• Children who spend too much time on the computer or watching television hardly ever read. Don’t let your child become one of those brain-dead kids who look like a zombie, and don’t let him make the rules. Just turn the television off.

• Don’t encourage the habit of watching television in the morning, turn it off; you don’t want to establish a regular morning routine.

• When the children do get their time to watch television, stick to how long you said they could watch. You would obviously not turn the television off before the program has ended.

• Let your child have a play date with the neighbour’s little boy or girl and get used to socializing and playing with other kids. This also allows the mothers to have a break and have tea.

• When it is time for bed, spend some time with her in her room and tell her a story. Establishing story time will create a bond and also introduce the child to the magic of words. Let books play an important role in her life, and have enough of them lying around in the house.


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