Child Behavior: Help! My Child Watches Too Much TV.
Television is a fact of life, and there are few families that don't have one, or that never watch one. Television can also be educational, informative, and uplifting. But, let's face it - the vast majority of what is shown on TV is pure drivel - it is far from uplifting or educational, and often portrays behavior that would be quite unacceptable in most social circles. Even worse, it often portrays that behavior as normal, or even desirable.
Furthermore, time in front of the TV is time NOT spent in physical activity, nor in conversation. In other words, watching television is a largely passive, solitary, activity that undermines healthy social behavior and promotes obesity and other "couch potato" disorders.
There is no denying the fact that television has an influence on human behaviors. This is evident from the amount of money advertisers spend on their tiny, 30-second slices of it.
So, short of throwing the TV out of the window, how can you limit your child's exposure to it to reasonable amounts? Here are some suggestions:
1. To begin with, you will need to cut down on your own TV watching. If you spend 4 hours a day watching soaps and other nonsense, you can't expect your child to be selective and watch television in a limited time. Parents have to become good role models for their children. You can influence the impressionable minds of your children by setting good examples rather then by preaching to them.
2. Next, you will have to find alternatives for TV, both for yourself, and for your children. Think of healthy social activities that will improve your physical health and help you in social interactions. The best ones include taking up some sports or hobbies. Choose the sport you like and introduce your child to it. Or revive your interest in an old hobby. You may just want to relax reading a good novel, or even a comic while listening to your favorite music. But, initially you will have to put in extra effort to make it work.
You will find your local recreation center or adult education center very helpful in finding the right program or class for you. Don't forget to offer some sort of incentive to allure your child towards an activity of his/her choice and be generous in praise. After all, you are taking them away from an addiction, and it is not easy.
3. Television watching timings will have to be regulated. You can speak to your child and mutually agree to avoid watching TV at specific times, such as before school, or after 9 pm, or during meals. Fix a day of the week as a regular TV-free day and dedicated to outdoor activity.
4. You may even think of cutting down on your channel subscriptions. This way you will watch only what has been pre-booked. You save time on aimless channel surfing, and the family can jointly decide the programs that are actually worth watching.
5. Use television time as a reward for other activities, such as completing household chores, or getting homework done. You will need to draw up some sort of chart to keep track of all this!
6. The best way to monitor your child's television watching is to watch together and then talk about what you viewed. Initiate discussion on the program or its values, its quality of acting and scripting. You can even discuss the commercials that will help your children to be less naive and gullible when it comes to advertising. Take practical examples and show them how some of the toys and foods don't live up to the hype when you actually go and buy them.
7. Remember to be reasonable and fair while turning off the television. Wait till the show is over and give some reasonable warning.
8. Cancel your expensive cable and satelite subscriptions and use the extra money either for other activities or else to rent movies. This discourages aimless channel surfing and, instead, encourages you, as a family, to go out, choose a movie, and watch it together - without ads! Combine this with a home-cooked pizza or nachos and you have the makings of a special family night instead of the usual couch potato routine.
Also, remember not to overdo it. Be selective. Find the good programs and watch them. The rest of the time, do something more active or more sociable. Very soon you will wonder how you and your kids ever found the time to watch so much of it.
Article Source: http://www.search-raven.com
About the Author
More information on how to solve children's behavioral problems is available from Dr. Noel Swanson's website, which is all about correcting Child Behavior Problems. Sign up for his FREE newsletter and 1 hour audio too.
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by: Dr.NoelSwanson.
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