How many hours of TV is too much?

[kingclick]

I've noticed lately that many people spend HOURS AND HOURS in front of the TV. How much is too much? Is it so pathetic that we watch 3 hours of TV every night? Is it pathetic that we watch TV for an hour every night? What about those people that only watch one or two hours a week because they actually have lives that THEY are living? Are they pathetic because they haven't figured out how good TV is?

[Michele]

Neither is pathetic. Some people find relaxation in board games, others find it in TV watching.

If you are neglecting your children, your spouse and your family obligations because of TV, that is too much TV.

[kingclick]

What if your neglecting experiencing actual real life?

[Beck]

Neither is pathetic. Some people find relaxation in board games, others find it in TV watching.

If you are neglecting your children, your spouse and your family obligations because of TV, that is too much TV.

I could easily live without a TV. But alas, Dh and DD love to watch TV (more movies than actual TV). DD loves dragon tales, little bear, Obbi.. etc. So, she gets maybe an hour of TV a night/day at home. And MOST of that time is right before we are going to bed to relax her and calm her down from a busy day.

People that sit their kids in front of the tube ... irritate me, but that is because I cannot do it!!!

[Michele]

KL, to some people watching TV together IS real life and therefore they are not neglecting it.

[kingclick]

How is it real life?

They aren't making relationships with people.
They aren't even doing anything. Just sitting and staring into the screen.
In two years will it matter who is the Master of Their Domain or how many immunity challenges Colby won?

[Michele]

Now you are debating what life is to some people. For instance DH and I watch Fear Factor together. We don't just sit there staring at the screen, mouths open, drool pouring out. LOL We comment on the people, the situations, play question games with each other, etc.

I don't know of any people that simply sit down and watch TV for 4 hours straight and say nothing, do nothing and ignore their kids. If they do, it's neglect and should be taken care of. However, you CAN make TV a fun family event. YOU may not agree with it, but it doesn't make it any less valid for the other family doing it.

[kingclick]

Ok. That covers one hour . Fear factor is just an hour of TV a week. What about the person watching 15 hours a week or more? How do you make ALL those hours a fun family event?

[Michele]

How do you decide what is a fun family event?

[kingclick]

You didn't answer my question.

[Michele]

You apparently couldn't make 15 hours of TV watching per week fun. Others might be able to. It's not up to you or I to decide what is fun for another family. Because I don't watch 15 hours per week I don't know how people make it fun but I am sure they do.

[kingclick]

This isn't about what I apparently can or cannot do. The debate is about how much TV is too much TV. I want to keep it away from what I or you can or cannot do.

[Michele]

And I already answered your question. IMO it is too much TV if you are neglecting your family. If you are capable of watching 15 hours of TV per week and making that family time, go for it. It is not for either of us to say how much is too much. It's up to the individual family (as long as nobody is being neglected.)

[sarah]

i know that the tv watching i do is after dd is in bed ( tv is all but never on while she is up)
sometimes i use tv to relax but i also use it as a social occasion such as survivor night when we have 10 - 15 ppl here watching on our big screen tv with a few beers or plonkskies.
tv watching doesnt have to be for the recluse

[RogueAngel]

Don't know how you could put a limit on this and decide what is pathetic or what is not. OR that it is even pathetic at all. Personally, I could do without any TV at all. But there is some quality programing on that can be useful, like Discovery Channel. I think most of the others are right and you can't say what is valuable, quality family time and make that fit every family.

[kingclick]

Just a little info to get the discussion spinning.....

1) Number of minutes per week that the average American child ages 2-11 watches television: 1,197 (almost 20 hours)

2) Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5 (that would be less than an hour)

[IdahoMom]

:D Can you define meaningful conversation??

[RogueAngel]

LoL !!

[Epicurus]

I watch primarily educational tv. That includes Good Eats:)

Here is an article about children and TV that I thought was pretty thought provoking and inspired me to make a few changes in our household.

http://www.mothering.com/10-0-0/html/10-3-0/10-3-turnofftv107.shtml
Breaking Out of the Box. Turn Off TV. Turn on Life.
By Ann Vorisek White

The average American child watches four hours of television every day, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.1 Videotapes and video games add to the amount of time children spend staring at a screen. How does all this viewing affect us?

Television harms our children and families in many ways. Before TV, meals were a time for families to reflect upon the day and linger in peace or lively discussion over home-cooked meals. Today, most American families regularly watch television during dinner.2

Mealtimes are hurried, with children and adults eating in silence, eyes glued to the screen, or gobbling down their food in order to return to the family room to resume their interrupted television watching.

Childhood illnesses and injuries leading to bed rest used to be special times for bonding and family rituals. We can recall books that were read to us or quiet games that we played while recovering from chicken pox or a broken leg. Today, sick children spend their days watching videos and television.

In the past, holiday gatherings found children playing outdoors and adults gathered in lively discussions. Today, children are more apt to gather around the television or computer than to take up a game of kick-the-can or capture-the-flag. In fact, some family gatherings seem to revolve around TV, with Thanksgiving dinners prepared to suit the timing of football games.

As a result of the many hours they spend in front of the TV, children are in effect being parented by network producers rather than by their own parents. Television teaches children that rude, irresponsible behavior is not only acceptable but also glamorous. Children learn about sex and violence apart from their consequences, emotional attachments, and responsibilities. They learn to act impulsively, without reflection or advice from elders. Qualities such as wisdom and processes like thinking through a problem are difficult to express on a television screen, especially when the medium depends on sensationalism and shock rather than character and insight.

US Surgeon General David Satcher stated in a 2000 report on youth violence that violent television programming and video games have become a public-health issue and that "repeated exposure to violent entertainment during early childhood causes more aggressive behavior throughout a child's life."3 The American Psychological Association (APA) notes that children who regularly watch violence on television are more fearful and distrustful of the world, less bothered by violence, and slower to intervene or call for help when they see fighting or destructive behavior.4 A Los Angeles Times story reported that 91 percent of children polled said they felt "upset" or "scared" by violence on television.5 A University of Pennsylvania study found that children's TV shows contain roughly 20 acts of violence each hour.6 After watching violent programs, the APA reports, children are more likely to act out aggressively, and children who are regularly exposed to violent programming show a greater tendency toward hitting, arguing, leaving tasks unfinished, and impatience.7 The first two years of life is when the greatest and most rapid development of the brain occurs. As all parents know, a child's mind is different from an adult's, and the differences go beyond children's innocent and often poetic perceptions of the world. While the adult brain has two distinct hemispheres, the infant brain is a single receptacle of sensory experience in which neither side has developed or overpowered the other. Until they learn language, children absorb experience using a kind of nonverbal "thinking," characterized later in the brain's development as a right hemispheric function. When language begins, each hemisphere seems to be equally developed. In its structural and biochemical sense, the brain doesn't reach its full maturation until about age 12.

By maturation, the left hemisphere typically develops as the dominant side, controlling the verbal and logical functions of the brain, while the right hemisphere controls spatial and visual functions. For many years, such development was thought to be genetically predetermined and unaffected by life experiences. Today, however, this belief has changed. Although the acquisition of language appears to be universal, we now recognize that the abilities required for expression and reasoning are not automatic. Watching television threatens the development of these abilities because it requires a suspension of active cognition.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of two not watch TV or videos, and that older children watch only one to two hours per day of nonviolent, educational TV. Young children watching TV are routinely described as transfixed, passive, and nonverbal. One of television's appeals for parents is that it serves as an immediate way to silence and sedate active toddlers. But such nonverbal absorption does more than simply relax and amuse preschoolers. Language spoken by actors on TV does not have the same effect as real-life language experiences. The Journal of Broadcasting reported that language skills among American children declined as TV viewing time increased.8

In real life, conversation is reciprocal and participatory; it allows time for reflection, questions, and encouragement. Television, however, is a one- way street, and you had better stay glued, ask no questions, and take no time for thought, because the next scene will appear in seconds and there is no rewind. As a result, children learn not to think but to remain passive and unresponsive to whatever stimulus appears before them. Television conditions them to absorb images without mental effort and to expect rapid change. Since young children's questions and imaginations are the cornerstone of their learning processes, remaining unresponsive hour after hour, day after day, year after year surely affects their intellectual, emotional, and moral development. Fantasy play, a critical component of childhood, allows children to explore different situations with varying responses and outcomes. While books and storytelling nourish fantasy play, fantasy watching does not foster the same reaction. The US Department of Education reported that 81 percent of children ages two to seven watch TV unsupervised,9 which means that young children enter a world of fantasy without the guidance and oversight of an adult. Research by the Yale University Family Television and Consultation Center reveals that imagination decreases as TV watching increases.10 TV teaches children to be amused by its images instead of encouraging kids to create their own. It dulls the mind by the power of its fast-moving pictures, supplanting the mental activity necessary to follow in the mind's eye a book or a storyteller's tale. The Yale Center reports that complex language and grammar skills are directly linked to fantasy play, and that children who create fantasy play are more tolerant, peaceful, patient, and happy.

Many children become habituated to TV by their parents, who desire a break from their child's activity and attention. However, the short-term benefit of a quiet, mesmerized child may actually lead to a greater dependence on adult supervision by creating children who are less capable of amusing themselves. By supplanting their imaginations, creating fast-paced pictures, and transforming active minds into passive recipients, TV teaches mental lethargy.

For a child raised on hourly doses of TV, boredom is a common component of later childhood. In refusing to use TV during the preschool years, parents may save themselves from constantly having to create amusements for their children.

The best way to keep TV from becoming an issue with children, of course, is not to begin using it. If a TV is present in the home, it is vital to establish clear rules on its use and to maintain these rules. Never make TV a reward or a punishment; this only heightens its power. When starting the withdrawal from TV, explain why you are making these changes and that it is not a punishment. The first month will be the most difficult. Children may cry or plead, but you can remain firm if you keep in mind that you are freeing them from an addiction.

It is also imperative that you help your children learn how to fill the time that they formerly spent watching TV. Work with them to nurture interests, discover hobbies, and explore new possibilities. Begin a nightly read-aloud for the entire family. Take walks after breakfast or dinner. Share your hobbies-sewing, knitting, baking bread-with them. Learn to play instruments and make music as a family. Encourage children to help with work around the house and yard. Visit neighbors and relatives. Tell stories and pass on your family history. Build a birdhouse. Go bowling. Go sledding. Finger paint. Color. Practice yoga together. Involve your children in the daily activities of the house, and encourage yourself and your family to rekindle the flame of exploration and discovery, away from the draw of the flickering blue screen.

[emilina]

I think 1-2 hours a day is more than enough. There's so much more out there.

[Country Boy]

Because of our climate our t.v. watching is normally the news and maybe 2 hours in the winter. In the Summer we don't notice it sitting there. BTW our kids are all busy raising there own kids so we don't have to worry about how much t.v. the family is watching.

[Shannie-Poo]

In the fall and winter we watch more tv than in spring and summer. My daughter and I have "our" shows that we watch when the other two are down. Its our time to bond.

Like Shell said, if you are neglecting any part of your life and that includes not being able to leave the house because theres a lifetime marathon with Nancy McKeon as a damsal in distress, than thats too much TV.

I have stated that all my children have tv's in their rooms. They all have TV time at night before they go to sleep. IMO as long as they are getting some sort of exercise on a daily basis (which they do with all their playing outside-even in the cold weather) than too much tv is really a personal choice.

[Raven]

TV tends to be, for me, mostly background noise. I turn it on when I climb into bed to read. I will watch a bit if it is a news program such as 60 Minutes, Dateline or 20/20. I also have to admit to enjoying "Criminal Minds" and getting hooked on "Heros" :lol:

Otherwise, I set the timer for 90 minutes and its a sleep aid :P

[Terrell]

TV tends to be, for me, mostly background noise. I turn it on when I climb into bed to read. I will watch a bit if it is a news program such as 60 Minutes, Dateline or 20/20. I also have to admit to enjoying "Criminal Minds" and getting hooked on "Heros" :lol:

Otherwise, I set the timer for 90 minutes and its a sleep aid :P

I use my TV in a similiar fashion most of the time. Usually it's on for the noise, and I'm either reading a book, or on my computer. There are some things on TV that I enjoy though, Football, Law and Order (original and SVU), Anything about space, and the News.

[abcNKH]

How is it real life?

They aren't making relationships with people.
They aren't even doing anything. Just sitting and staring into the screen.
In two years will it matter who is the Master of Their Domain or how many immunity challenges Colby won?The same could be said for any activity which is individual. If I sit and read, I am not making relationships with people, I am just sitting and reading all by myself, and in two years, what does it matter if they solved the murder in the book I was reading? So is reading murder mysteries as bad as watching television?