Raising a child with no TV

I absolutely loved an extract from a book that I read in a magazine today. It was by a self-confessed TV-addict mother who, wanting to be the best mother she could, brought up her now 11-year-old son Carey with no TV at all.

When Carey was really small she would sneak away to watch her favorite programs in the spare bedroom while he napped, but once he was a bit older she had to cut that out so he wouldn't realise what she was doing.

The hardest part, it sounds, was not having the "TV nanny" that so many parents use to give themselves a break. But she found an innovative way around that. Her husband had just shown the 3-year-old how to use the kitchen timer and Mom told Carey that he could set it every day (he was thrilled!) for 20 minutes and that was Mom's time, he wasn't to interrupt her. "Even if I bang my head?" he asked. "Well you can call me if you bang it really hard," she replied.

To her amazement, her son quietly sat and watched the kitchen timer for the full 20 minutes and she got a peaceful nap on the couch. They followed this routine each day and Carey soon learned to entertain himself quietly and happily for up to an hour while Mom had her own time.

At 11, Carey has many interests and hobbies but they still don't include television. Because it was never made an issue, he knows he can watch TV at his friends' houses if he wants to, but most of the time he's really not interested.

I thought that was a great story :)

Happy parenting,

Cassie

I missed it! TV Turn Off Week.

At the ripe old age of 34, I have gradually got to the point where watching TV bores me to tears. I watched a 15 minutes of a comedy show last night, just to keep the rest of the family company, and remembered why I don't watch stuff on telly!

So being a big fan of no-TV, imagine my disappointment when I found out I had MISSED TV-Turnoff week.

Check out the link for all kinds of useful information and resources to encourage us and our children to watch less TV - and do better things instead!!

Happy parenting,

Cassie

Photo by Priyan Meewella

Goal setting for kids

I was so upset this morning, when I heard on the radio while driving to work that results of a UK study just out found that the average British 6-year-old had watched 1 YEAR of TV. Maybe that's silly. After all, it means that a child had spent on average 4 hours a day watching telly - of which I'm sure some was helpful and educational.

But it just sounds wrong. Goal setting and goal achievement is, as far as I can see, the crux of what's good in life. And sitting watching TV is such a passive activity that it can only harm our development and our potential to achieve what will make us happy in life. To teach a small child that it is a sensible choice to spend 1/3 to 1/4 of their waking hours watching television just seems to be an insane thing.

I have a challenge for you. Watch your kids this week and see how many hours, on average, they spend watching TV. If you decide it is a healthy amount, good for you for making an informed decision. But if you think a little of their time could more productively be spent on their goals, please help them in the future to put goals before TV watching.

As well as structured activities, kids need time (away from the TV!) to just BE - to relax, use their imaginations, and switch off.

Happy parenting,

Cassie