Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school TV rules

I'll have to say, I'm pretty bummed Big Bang Theory isn't streamed on Netflix or elsewhere to any real extent. Although it is definitely more adult-themed, my almost 13-year-old loves the show and identifies with so much of what goes on. He bought Season 1 on DVD, but we hardly have devices now that will play DVD.

As to electronic babysitting, it can be a gift for our high energy, driven kids - both for us and them. I even need electronically babysat from time to time.

What I found interesting in this discussion was the many different definitions of what "watching TV" means that show when people share details. It made me think about the way we use screen time, what I label as TV, what I don't, and why.

DD7 showed the ability to focus on an entire 20-minute episode of a pre-school oriented show on Nick Jr. as an infant. So, we indulged her. She's very visual-spatial, so it turned out to be an excellent educational tool for her.

We've never really limited it, because she has an ability to self-regulate to the point where we rarely feel like she's abusing it. Yesterday, for instance, she watched for about an hour and a half. She had plenty of other activities going on.

She gets to select her own shows, and she records them on the DVR. We have yet to have a problem with her selecting something inappropriate. We used to have a family camp-out night in the living room every weekend, where I'd throw our mattresses on the floor and we'd watch movies and eat junk food. DW and I would alternate choices with DD every other week, so we'd introduce her to things she ordinarily wouldn't seek, to broaden her horizons. This is how, for instance, she became obsessed with Harry Potter. She wanted nothing to do with the idea at first.

TV watching in our household is not something done in isolation, staring vapidly at the screen. It's a family activity, it's interactive, interrogative, and analytical. We've used it as a launchpad into social topics like the outrageous message about thinness and its consequences, misleading claims in advertising, etc. Meanwhile, we all agree that Spencer is the funniest character on iCarly, and that the actors playing Kat and Jade are much more vocally talented than the star of Victorious. We also agree that the overall acting throughout the cast of Good Luck Charlie is really good for a show of that nature, but DD respectfully disagrees with her parents' position that the acting is really, really poor on Shake It Up.

All her peers are watching these same shows and movies, so it gives them something to bond over, in much the same way that nearly any random gathering of adult males can instantly find common ground by talking about sports. It's a handy social tool.

So yeah... count us in the "TV is not evil" camp.

I second everything in Dude's post including the comments on Shake It Up.

And for a show all about dancing...that could be better too. We aren't that thrilled with the writing on Shake it UP either.

OKAY...I just don't like Shake it Up at all.

I also love Spencer on iCarly! LOL

We watch almost no broadcast TV, other than an occasional show on PBS or Packer football game. Our girls (9 & 11) usually watch an episode or two on Netflix every day and get a limited amount of "fun" screen time on the various other devices around the house. (Homework done on the computer doesn't count.)

During the summer, they end up with very little screen time. During the winter, they can sometimes end up with several hours in a day, particularly on days with no school when I have to work. In addition, they usually can have more screen time if it's something educational rather than mindless fluff.

No restrictions here for DS7, but by his nature he is fairly self-regulating. He typically gravitates towards things where he learns like Ruff Ruffman and CyberChase, but it is a rare day that he isn't actively engaged in an activity or conversation related to what's on TV. We all watch cooking competition shows together and a random fiction series here and there.

To Michaela's question on the play while watching rule: the thing that disturbs me with some kids is the way they seem to just have an off switch on their mind when the TV is on. Maybe on only while playing is a check on making sure the kids aren't being shutdown in zombie-watch mode.

DD13 watches almost no television at all-- only Doctor Who, really.

She occasionally will go through a bunch of Netflix stuff (Monty Python, The Simpsons, and {shudders} SouthPark...)

When she was tiny, we didn't really stress out about how much TV she watched, but she didn't watch much, either. She liked Dora, Blue's Clues and Bear in the Big Blue House (gosh, I LOVED that show), as well as Emeril and other cooking shows. At most, though, an hour or two a day, and a lot of days, nothing at all. She just wasn't THAT into it.

Then she learned to read, and had even less interest unless we turned captioning on (which we did when she was about 18mo and kept doing-- we STILL do this for some shows where dialogue is important and hard to capture).

When she was slightly older, she was captivated by CSI and Numb3rs, as well as possibly the crappiest vampire thing ever on TV-- Moonlight-- and Ghost Whisperer.

She gets plenty of screen time Skyping with her friends.

But she's never been one to tune out or go "zombie" with the TV on, though she is definitely WATCHING if she's watching, and listening if she is not. Anytime she's done that zombie thing, I've known that she was ill-- we have allowed her to just "veg" like that when she has been sick.

That started with a handful of VHS tapes of the Teletubbies and Kipper when she was dreadfully ill with pneumonia as a baby/toddler. She watched hour upon hour upon hour of video/tv then. It was the only thing that she COULD do, and she was pretty miserable.

We have to limit it here or else he becomes a zombie... And then he doesn't sleep well if he watches too much.