Good TV Viewing Habits

Establishing ground rules for Television watching is very important to get the best value out of your television viewing. Here are afew things to think about.

• Establish time limits for watching television. Remember to follow the time limit strictly. It is advisable to allow your three year old toddler to watch television for only half an hour daily.
• Allow your toddler to watch programmes that are appropriate for her age.
• Sit down with your toddler and closely supervise her television watching. Make television watching an interactive process.
• Encourage your toddler to watch programmes that sharpen her thinking skills.
• Help her to know more about the world around her by allowing her to watch programmes relating to this. These can be wildlife programmes, programmes on historic places and so on.
• Never use the television as an electronic baby sitter.
• Make yourself more interesting than the television for the toddler. Take her out for a walk or play a game with her and her dolls.
• Do not encourage your kid to watch television during meal time and family get togethers.
• Help her to learn something new from the programme that she just saw. For example, you can tell her that the programme focussed on an apple. Tell her many benefits that the apple can provide.
• If you see a negative act being telecast on the television, speak about it. For example if your child sees a house burning, you can tell her that no one was hurt inspite of the burning.
• Do not keep the television on if no one is watching it.
• Rather than relying on the television as a break for you to go about your chores, get your children involved in some creative activity.
• Avoid using the television as punishment or a reward.

The television has been aptly named the Idiot Box. As a toddler, she has no control over the television viewing act. As a parent, it is upto you to decide how much TV your toddler is exposed to. Do not allow the television to overpower her. Remember not to establish this control using commands or threats. Try using humour to influence your toddler. The earlier you train your child on wise television watching, the more it will reap benefits for her in her later years.