Television Time, To Do or Not to Do, That is the Question

Young Children and Screen Time

Tip—For children over two years of age, make screen time a regular, small part of the daily/weekly household routine.

Helen Neville, Pediatric nurse advisor and author of the book Is This a Phase? Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth to 6 Years, offers some common-sense advice on how to provide and enforce screen limits.
•    Keep the television off except for a few well-chosen programs for children or adults. Don’t use it as background sound. Current viewing patterns in the United States show that the TV is on almost 50 hours per week in the average household. Yikes!
•    Don’t put a television or computer in your child’s bedroom. Children don’t have the willpower to leave it off nor do they have the maturity to make good decisions about what or how much to watch. (Currently, 68% of American children have TVs in their rooms.)
•    Don’t use TV or videos as a reward. Instead, make viewing a small part of the daily or weekly routine. Whatever we regularly use as rewards, children want more of—regardless of what it is.

To read more about young children and screen time click here.
*Copyright Parenting Press, www.Parenting Press.com, reprinted by permission