Hot answers tagged television
20
This sounds totally inappropriate and a major warning flag. Both my children have been through numerous childcare centres/kindergartens/ELCs and none of them even had a television.
The American Academy of Pediatrics have "that parents should limit the amount of time their infants and toddlers spend in front of any sort of screen and reaffirmed earlier ...
12
A 14 month old will have a short attention span - letting him watch the TV might seem like a pain free solution, but it generally is considered to actually make things worse.
What you should do is plan for a lot of engaging activities - almost simultaneously.
For example sitting with him on the floor surrounded by a range of different toys which do ...
12
For a professional, dedicated daycare, it is absolutely inappropriate.
For in-home daycares, though, it may be difficult to avoid.
As Dave mentioned in his answer, the clear recommendation is that there should be no television exposure before the age of two, and after that the amount of television exposure, if any, should be heavily restricted.
...
11
This is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. Kids that age often like to watch the same movies, read the same books, or play the same games over and over. Part of it is them controlling their environment, and some of it is the fact that they really like those movies, books, games, etc.
I'd advise against trying too hard to change that, if you push ...
10
While I definitely agree professional help would be valuable, I would also suggest considering your opportunity to be a role-model to your brother. Spend time with him. Invite him to go with you to do fun things that don't involve the computer. Engage him in loving brotherly conversation, so that he trusts you and becomes more open to share what is going on ...
10
Small kids can't process passive media such as TV very well. They get overloaded easily because unless the show is going slowly, their mental processing simply can't keep up with the pace of the show.
Because of this, they should be gently exposed to media.
In practical terms, that means they'll benefit more from watching the same episode over and over ...
9
I am a language developmentalist and at 18 months of age I would expect an 18 month old child to have between 6 and 20 words of speech. You have to bear in mind that development does not proceed at the same rate in all children and that 18 months is still very, very young. As long as her understanding of spoken language is improving then that is all that ...
9
We addressed the "addiction" part of your question previously, but I wanted to talk about the behavior part. First, you shouldn't expect it to be as easy for your five year-old as it is for your nine year-old. Nine year-olds live a lot less "in the moment" compared to five year-olds, have developed more interests, and have learned more coping strategies ...
8
In addition to Rory's answer, which I generally agree to, I had good experiences with the following three strategies:
Take part: Our son was far less likely to get tired of a something when he was/is playing with others. Adults can provide some guidance and motivation to stay focussed, although now (3yrs) peers do have a similar effect.
Avoid clutter: ...
6
Sinking so much time into such passive activities points towards some sort of mental or emotional health issue. It's possible he's depressed or avoiding responsibility, but I agree with Nat -- it sounds like a symptom rather than a cause. I don't know what kind of psychologist your brother saw, but that person sounds like a quack. I'd highly suggest ...
6
Talk to him about your experiences, this is especially useful as you have been through the same thing as him and can help him simply be being there to talk to.
As for the gaming addiction, my gut feel is that this is a symptom of other underlying issues and finding those and dealing with them will be more useful than trying to impose external controls on ...
6
I am guessing that he is used to TV and demands it because everything else is slow and boring in comparison. If that's the case, you have to get him away from that preference.
IMHO, you should wean him off the television. A big bright flashing active screen is not good for a small child; it's sort of a sensory overload because they can't grasp what's going ...
6
Some people object to older cartoons as being politically incorrect, violent etc, but I agree with you that the classics contained useful messages about good and evil, right and wrong.
That said, many modern cartoons also bring a good message, so I would suggest allowing them to see cartoons from any era but just check age appropriateness.
5
I would think that it's not an eyesight issue but simply that the story is so exciting that she wants to be closer to it. It's like when granny says, "It's story time, kids, come closer."
GdD offers great ideas for DIY eyesight tests, or visit a professional if you're concerned. But if it's not evident except for TV then it's probably not that. Rory ...
4
First of all, I was that 13 year old kid. I was always on the computer or playing video games. So, some of these questions are me vicariously wishing that I had had an older brother who cared. See, I really really want you to come at this the right way. If you try to get him to stop using the computer or TV "because it's unhealthy" you will make him want ...
4
As with any TV show, you should pick and choose. In my opinion, modern cartoons like "Jane and the Dragon" and "Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks" offer a lot more than Bugs Bunny. My 4-year old loves cartoons like "Shaun the Sheep" and "Fireman Sam". On the other side, I find cartoons like "Ben 10" tedious and violent so we tend to avoid those.
4
Scientific Foundation
Any attempt on explaining some things as fiction depends on the children's ability to actually grasp that concept, so let's focus on that first: The general consensus seems to be that children can differentiate between fiction and reality (see e.g. a study from the University of Texas or research from the Max-Planck-Institute Leipzig ...
4
My short answer: wait it out. It took our daughter until she was about 4 to be willing to watch new things. Toddlers are comforted by routine, and part of that routine might be watching the same program over and over and over. As he matures, new things will be less distressing. Also, some kids are just plain more neo-phobic than others; our daughter is ...
3
My daughter had difficulty with this up until age 5 or so. It was fairly easy to explain to her that animation ("things that look like drawings") was not real but CG special effects in live action footage were much harder for her to grasp. What we finally did was open up Photoshop, took a picture of her, and composited in a firework in the sky above her. ...
3
I see two main questions here:
"Should I let my kids watch the older cartoons I grew up with?" (what you consider "quality cartoons")
"Should I control what my kids watch?"
Personally, I see no problem with sharing the cartoons of your childhood with your children. I, too, watched Tom and Jerry as a kid. Through the 20/20 vision of hindsight, I see ...
3
We don't have a television in our dining room, deliberately so we can eat together as a family and enjoy that time talking about the day etc.
That said, during the Olympics last summer, as the kids are so sport-obsessed, we did occasionally have carpet picnics in the front room where the TV is, and I think they did enjoy that as a special treat.
3
I have a 12yo boy (and a 10yo) who would sit in front of the TV or play computer video games all day if...
But we don't have a TV or computer video games!
Problem solved. 8-)
Not trying to be flip, but as parents sometimes we have to remove from the environment things that compete for attention...especially if they're non-productive.
Most homes are ...
3
It may be a little late for you, Torben, but I hope others may find it useful.
I was raised in a family that was different in many ways from the others, and was especially exposed to huge peer pressure, from both same-age friends but also from adults who criticized our way of life. But all my life, including childhood, I was happy with my parents' ...
2
Youtube is a wonderful option. You can dig through the site, hand select programming that supports your goals for your child and setup playlists. The wonderful thing about playlists is that you can control the duration of the programming. That way you can mix old and new.. amateur and professional.. without the constant commercial interruptions filing your ...
2
There are lots of educational games. For example chess helps with logical and strategy thinking.
Science is always fun. Reading is exciting.
But to help kids develop better they need lots of sport activities too. Especially boys. Also non computer activities will educate him way more better then computer ones. The more variety he has in his activities - ...
2
TV during meal times is a big debate.
There has been a rule when I grew up that the TV should be off during meals. Technically, the enforcement was easy since the dining table was set in the kitchen with no direct view in the living room.
At my grandparents' at that time, TV was on during breakfast.
In my opinion, I prefer to have the TV off during the ...
2
How about building on the skills he has... computers can be creative rather than just passive devices.
Why don't you encourage him to learn a programming language like Scratch where he can program games for himself. Alternatively get him a video camera and work on creating some films of his own. These will develop skills that he can enjoy and be creative ...
2
Part of the issue is probably the TV. For a number of reasons the AAP doesn't recommend that a child under two watch television at all. You might be making it harder for real life interactions to seem paced correctly.
Try putting him next to you in bed, remove all other distractions, including his toys, so that the only thing in reach it you and either one ...
2
I have a five year old son and no tv at home. Recently we were on holiday, just the two of us, and sometimes in the afternoons I was rather tired of being my son's pay pal, and allowed him to watch tv in the hotel room, so I could relax. After watching for half an hour or an hour of tv, when, with his consent, we turned the tv off and attempted to go out ...
2
This is definitely normal, and not just at that age, although they do get better at following instructions as they get older (caveat- I don't have teenagers so this may all change...)
Just keep popping the child back on the couch, tell them not to get close to the TV and ideally sit on the couch with them for a cuddle. This will provide positive ...
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