TV talk: what works for your family?

Each year my son's cooperative preschool has a speaker come to an evening parent meeting to give a talk on a subject related to early childhood issues and parenting. This year I invited Ellen Currey-Wilson, a Hillsdale resident and author of the book The Big Turn-off: Confessions of a TV-Addicted Mom Trying to Raise a TV-Free Kid. I'd heard Ellen talk at one of the Rieke Elementary storytime hours, and I enjoyed her humor and non-preachiness. Because you'd expect someone who wrote a book about this subject to be kind of preachy and proud, wouldn't you? Well, she's far from it. In fact, she's not anti-TV for kids, she firmly believes you need to do whatever works for you and your family. And if letting them watch an hour here and there is what you need for some sanity time, well then go for it. I love that.

I'm not a big watcher of TV, but my husband is, so I tend to keep a tighter rein on our kid's viewing habits. Lately, however, it seems like I use it as a crutch when I just can't handle one more sibling squabble or whiny request. (Here, let me reward you with a television program since you're acting so beastly.) And since my daughter is still exhausted and crabby when she gets home from full-day kindergarten, I've been letting her watch a little TV after school. Unfortunately, Clifford is on PBS at that time, and I'm sorry, but I just cannot abide that big red dog (because it's really all about me, isn't it?). (But it's like, c'mon Emily Elizabeth, control your dog! What are you, independently wealthy and can just whip out some cash to pay for all the havoc that Clifford wreaks over and over and over again? He is obviously not learning from his mistakes. Owning a dog that large just shows tremendous disrespect for your community. Harrumph.) We recently discovered the clever Word Girl, but it's only on at 5pm on Fridays.

How much TV do you let your kids watch? Do you worry about it? (And do they watch more in the winter than in summer?) What programs do they enjoy, and which ones make you cringe? If you'd like some support and advice on limiting your kid's exposure to TV, Ellen has a TV-Free Parenting Yahoo! support group that anyone is welcome to join.

Comments

[KarenP]

My husband and I don't watch TV at all, though we do enjoy watching movies occasionally. We've kind of taken the same approach with our kids. They do watch Sesame Street once in a blue moon, but mostly it's movies that we've purchased off Craigslist or gotten from the library. Our rule on movies is that they can watch one if their rooms are clean. That adds a bit of extra incentive to keep the rooms picked up and sometimes means they decide they'd rather go outside or play with toys. We often watch the movies with them so we can have conversations about what they are watching, and since they're only watching movies, they aren't exposed to advertising, which is one of the things we hate about kid-oriented TV. They don't watch every day, but it gives me a break when I need it. Works for us.

[Julie]

We keep our TV in the basement, so it isn't a big part of our lives. The kids do watch some TV (mostly videos or DVD's we get at the library) but for me the big issue with TV is what are your kids not doing b/c of their TV time. It's all a balance. If I feel they've had a good amount of creative / outdoor time that day or week, we'll take some time to watch a video in the late afternoon. It does feel like more of a winter time thing for us, we hardly watch any TV in the summer. I do the same thing as Karen - if they are asking to watch a movie, we make sure their bedroom and playroom is clean first.

[JillyBean]

Ya know Heather...you're right about that Big Dumb Dog. Ever since I read your post yesterday, that show has been driving me nuts. I've always been a little irritated how the scale of Clifford changes from frame to frame; now I just find the whole thing irritating.
Thanks for that.
Yes, WordGirl is great and so are Ruff and CyberChase. And while I can't abide Buster, I do like Arthur. What will we do when she thinks she's too old for PBS?!!! Aaargh!

[lauralye]

C'mon, leave Clifford alone. Parents aren't supposed to get it; we are just nit-picky old fuddy-duddies. Clifford is warm and fuzzy and reassures kids that even though they may be different, just plain clumsy, or even--oh, the horror--inconsistent from frame to frame, they are still loved by and of value to their community.

[Renee]

I, too, have a soft spot in my heart for Clifford. My kids have always been easily frightened, and this was the first show they liked -- sweet and simple and reassuring. I feel like I've seen every episode a million times, and my kids have pretty much outgrown it, but it sure did have a sacred status when my kids were really little!!

As for TV, I find it really easy for our family to get on the slippery slope to becoming couch potatoes. If I'm really on the top of my game, I limit to 30-minutes of screen time a day. The kids can pick either a TV show (PBS kids or a video) or using Starfall.com or children's computer programs for 30 minutes.

[jill]

I don't mind Clifford, but I LOVE Spot videos and Little Bear videos. They are so age appropriate for little ones. They are calm in manner and focus on subjects little kids relate to, like helping with cooking, playing, etc. I like to check them out from the library.

[JillyBean]

OH!! I loove Little Bear!