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Parents hear a lot of concerns about television and media exposure for very young children. Screen time for children is definitely on the increase. Children are watching 35 hours of television and other media a week, on average.

Some children watch over 4,000 hours of television before they start kindergarten. In the process of viewing this much television and other media-like video games and videotapes, children see over 100,000 acts of violence and see over 20,000 commercial advertisements before they finish elementary school.

Children’s cartoons and action programs average more than 20 acts of violence per hour compared with 5 violent acts per hour in prime-time shows.

There is evidence that television and other media have many negative effects on children. Research shows that the media culture has some dramatic consequences for children.

Negative Impacts from too Much Screen Time

Increasing children’s verbal and physically aggressive behavior; teaching children that fighting is an acceptable way to solve conflicts.
Desensitizing children to violence; teaching children that violence is a common, normal part of everyday life.
Validating disrespectful and rude behavior as legitimate; teaching children that what they see on T.V. is acceptable for use in their everyday lives.
Undermining children’s view of the world as a safe place to be; teaching children to be fearful, mistrusting, and to think they have to protect themselves from others.
Encouraging negative stereotyping of race, class, and gender.
Delaying children’s language development; teaching them that every problem has a simple and identifiable solution that is readily at hand and does not need to be discussed.

But television has also been reported to have positive effects on young children. Good children’s television has been reported to:

Teach children positive social behavior (Mr. Rogers).
Support an increase in interest in reading (Reading Rainbow, Arthur).
Expose children to new places, people, cultures, customs, and experiences (ThePuzzle Factory).

Untitled design - 2021-04-10T013816.739 (1).png — Do Children Learn from Television?

Children learn by actively constructing their own knowledge through meaningful experiences with real objects and people. Unfortunately, television is a passive experience.
The early math skills, literacy and language skills, and positive social skills we expect children to learn from television happen when you share the experience with your child by singing along, watching what is happening, acting out what children see, and “playing” along with the on-screen activity. Your participation is what supports children’s active learning.

Children learn by actively constructing their own knowledge through meaningful experiences with real objects and people. Unfortunately, television is a passive experience.

The early math skills, literacy and language skills, and positive social skills we expect children to learn from television happen when you share the experience with your child by singing along, watching what is happening, acting out what children see, and “playing” along with the on-screen activity. Your participation is what supports children’s active learning.

Rules for Family Viewing

All families need to set some very basic rules about how often and for how long television will be available. These rules need to be connected to the age and stage of the child. For obvious reasons, infants need no exposure to television. They are not able to benefit in any way from being placed in front of the television.

Toward the end of the first year, older infants may begin to show some interest in watching what is on television for preschool children in a very limited way. As a basic rule, media usage should be limited for all children under the age of eight. Less than an hour a day of screen time is plenty!

Untitled design - 2021-04-10T015046.234 (1).png — Be a Screen Time Role Model

Experts caution parents to start by monitoring and limiting their own television and media exposure.
If the television comes on as adults enter the house and gets turned off as adults leave, children’s television exposure will be much higher than is recommended. Make television watching a family activity. Watch television with your child, even when they are very young, to establish that television should be a shared experience rather than a solitary one.

Limit Solitary Screen Time

If you are not available to watch with your child, limit solitary television watching to one show or one video. Establishing this rule early will prevent children from just watching from boredom.

Say “no” to requests for repeated viewing of the same video or program again and again. Once is enough.

Untitled design - 2021-04-10T015631.927 (1).png — Provide Other Options for Entertainment

Make sure that screen time doesn’t become a babysitter. Offer your child a wide variety of other experiences: reading books, going outside for a walk, playing games, scribbling with colors or markers, listening to music, involving your child in chores as you do them, and cuddling and snuggling together.

Untitled design - 2021-04-10T020207.938 (1).png — Don’t Have Screen Time During Meals

Mealtime is important for infants and toddlers. It is a time for sharing food and experiences. Make it an interactive time where you and your child are face-to-face. Have your dining experience take place in another room away from screens. Make sure you put your smartphones away somewhere so that you’re not tempted to use screens during family mealtime.

Create a Screen Time Schedule

There are excellent children’s programs available. Review the television listings on Sunday and decide which, if any, television programs deserve your child’s time and attention. Write down choices and post them on the refrigerator. If you didn’t put it on

your weekly plan, don’t watch it. Television and media are a part of most families’ lives. Diane Levin, author of Remote Control Childhood? Combating the Hazards of Media Culture, says, “Media is a teacher that competes with all of us for the hearts and minds of our children.” Start now, and you can make sure that media impacts your child positively.

If you want more help regarding screen time and children, please join our Parent Advisor private Facebook group or purchase PA Digital Preschool so you can find new ways to use screen time to educate your children.

Thank you for reading this blog!

These 4 Free Printables will help make limiting screentime fun for the family. In this Freebies you will get: