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Each April, millions of parents and their children turn off their TV for a week during TV Turnoff Week.
Supported by 80 national organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, TV Turnoff Week helps ninety percent of the people who participate reduce their television viewing.
How much TV do you are your children watch each day?
What else could you be doing with that time?
There have been a lot of recent studies that have associated television watching, especially early in a child's life, with later attentional problems, aggressive behavior, and being overweight.
Children who watch TV a lot or who simply live in a home where the TV is always on, have also been shown to be more likely to have lower reading skills than children who don't watch as much TV.
And as they are bombarded with commercials, they will probably be more likely to want all of the latest toys and snack foods that are advertised.
Are there any benefits to children watching TV? One study did show that children who watch educational shows, like Sesame Street, had higher academic scores than children who watched simple entertainment type shows and cartoons. The study didn't compare either group to children who didn't watch TV at all though, which would be the only way to answer this question.
Would your family benefit from watching less TV? If you consider the things that you could do to replace that time you used to spend watching TV, the answer is almost certainly yes. If you replace the three hours of TV that the average child watches with other family activities, like going for a walk, reading books, and playing games, etc., everyone will be better off.
Some other TV watching tips for your family:
- Follow the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines and limit children over age two years to less than two hours of quality programming each day and discourage children under age two from watching any TV at all.
- If your children are watching TV, either watch with them or make sure you know what they are watching and that it is age appropriate.
- Don't leave the TV on all day as background noise. Try to plan for specific shows that you want to watch and then turn the TV off when they are over.
- Don't watch TV during meals.
- Watch for signs that TV is having a negative influence on your child. For example, if your child is becoming aggressive and hitting a lot, then don't let him watch Power Rangers or other shows with violence. Or if your child is overweight, don't let him sit in front of the TV all day.
- Take the TV out of your children's rooms.
- Don't replace TV watching with other sedentary activities, like playing video games or using the Internet.
Consider making watching TV a privilege that you can give and take away to reinforce good behaviors.
- Don't watch the news or primetime shows while your children are present.
Although there is still controversy about the link between watching TV and a child later developing ADHD and some of the other possible negative effects, it should be clear that limiting your child's TV viewing is not going to be harmful.
Even if you don't participate in TV Turnoff Week and feel like you can't live without your TV for a full week, consider a TV Turnoff Day (like every Monday or Saturday) each week or at least reduce the amount of time that your child spends watching TV.
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