TV And Children

I have written before on my view on TV (less is best!) so I won’t bore you with all the reasons why I think TV needs to be limited for kids. If you are interested though, you can read the following:

To be honest I would like to think that we could do without a TV at all in our house, but there are times when I put the TV and the kids quieten down for half an hour or so, and I am very grateful for the quiet that it brings.

We have developed a roster system in our house to manage the competing needs of the children. Time on the computer, playing the Wii or watching the TV are treated equally as they are all sedentary activities.

TV Roster For Children

The table above shows the roster that we currently have in operation. The child whose name (or in this example age) appears next to the day is allowed to choose which activity they want to do – Wii, computer or TV. If they choose TV they are also allowed to choose the program which they want to watch (within family guidelines).

The remaining children then need to agree how to use the available technology. Due to the spread of ages, it can sometimes be quite challenging for them to find a middle ground. But as their time is ticking away, they usually come to some form of compromise!

The TV roster changes regularly to take into account after school activities and ages of the children. You can download a template here – TV and Technology Roster

How do you manage the TV in your house or if you have decided to go without TV, how has that worked for you?