I think I’m raising a TV addict

I think I?m raising a TV addict. I?m not proud of this admission but I?m ready to accept my enabling in this behaviour and help my darling son beat this addiction, in order to prevent a life of future couch potatoness.

I don?t know how this happened, it all started so innocently. An hour of ABC kids in the morning, half and hour of Wiggles in the afternoon. A little DVD here and there. He couldn?t even sit through a whole episode most of the time.

But it all changed. He started wanting more. He dropped his day sleep, so I put on the TV in the afternoon to encourage some ?quiet time? on the couch. It got cold outside and the park was off limits, so I put on the TV to keep him entertained for a while. And now he?s hooked.

I blame Foxtel. There are kids shows on 24 hours a day. They?ve opened up a whole new world of kids marketing to us that that we never knew existed. Dora, Diego, Little Einsteins, Mama Mirrabelle?s Home Movies. He could literally sit glued in front on them all day, quite happily, like a little Homer Simpson.

However, I realised things had gone too far recently when it was bright and sunny outside and I asked him what he wanted to do together that day. ?Let?s watch TV ALL day!? he replied, with obvious glee at the thought. I promptly turned the TV off and he sobbed for half and hour.

Even the convenience of our digital Foxtel IQ is coming back to haunt me, with my Mother in law calling to ask me last week why Jamison was refusing to go to the toilet unless she paused the TV. This child of the technology age thinks everyone can pause live TV and was determined to hold on until his favourite show was held for him!! Clearly something has to be done.

But to be honest, I can relate. I love TV. I would give up many luxuries before I would part with my Foxtel subscription. Food, for instance.

However, the last thing I want to do is raise a couch potato, so I will be turning the TV off more from now on. I just need to find something else that occupies him as well as the square box does, because I haven?t found it yet.

It would be lovely to think he could spend his hours doing craft projects, or putting together one of the numerous puzzles he has, or playing with some of the education toys that sit idly on his shelves. But in reality he shows no interest whatsoever in any of those things. Some kids are great at entertaining themselves and will happily play with their trains, lego, dolls or colouring in. Not my son. My little social butterfly has to be around people (mainly me) all the time. Except when he?s watching TV, which is how we ended up here. Because, let?s be honest, it is not possible to entertain your kids every minute of the day, no matter how dedicated a parent you are.

And of course, there are plenty of other things we do together that are good for him. We read books every day, we put music on and dance around the house, we go to the park and we use our imagination. But on those cold and wet days when I need to get work done?well, you know.

However, according to the numerous studies I?ve read on the subject, I?m doing son a huge disservice by switching the TV on, with it having many negative impacts on his future. 

One study from New Zealand's University of Otago tracked more than 1,000 children through to adulthood and researcher, Dr Bob Hancox, says no matter what your intelligence level or social background, childhood television viewing can have an impact on your education. The study even claimed the more TV kids watch, the less likely they are to graduate from university. Fantastic!

Another study from the University of Sydney found that children who spent more than two hours a day in front of the television were less likely to be fit, after 2,750 NSW school children were put through their paces.

So my uneducated son will also be a slacker in the fitness department too. The poor kid is doomed.

But the thing is, we don?t know what else is going on in these kids lives. And could it be more about the shows they were watching than how much? I am the first one to turn off anything violent or adult in it?s content and will continue to do so once my son is old enough to deem me extremely uncool for my stance. But is a bit of age-appropriate kids TV really going to hurt him, when it?s balanced with everything else that is important for him? Or is this just another area us parents are made to feel like we?re not doing a good enough job?

Either way, I?ll be turning it off more from now on and battling the inevitable tears I?ll get in thanks for protecting him from being an uneducated, unfit slacker. Roll on summer, the days are going to be loooong. 

Does your child watch too much TV? Or do you strictly control their television time? What suggestions do you have for keeping them entertained that doesn't rely on screen time?

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