to much tellytime for kids

[zzxxee]

i know my 13 year old daughter watches far to much t.v and spends to much time on her laptop.
i am now limiting it to 2 hours after school and getting her to go swimming more with friends.
Do your kids watch to much t.v spend to much time on computers ect ??
or do you feel it does not matter how much t.v internet time children have?

[society]

There should always be a time limit for TV and computer, in my opinion.
But, some parents use the TV as a babysitter.

[zzxxee]

my daughter hasnt always been like this i have just noticed since the cold weather has crept in so has her reluctance to go outside.
It was only over the weekend it hit me how much t.v time she has had over the last four or five weeks that i put my foot down
reality check sunk in !!!!

[dotty.]

There has to be a limit at 13, but there also has to be some encouragement and support for her to develop other interests, it's bloody cold outside. so you can't blame her for wanting to stay in!

[murraymints]

there are all manner of board games etc for indoors, I used to love scrabble and monopoly. Books are an idea too.

[zzxxee]

she does have a club she goes to after school once a week, and im not suggesting she goes on a 10 mile cross country run in freezing weather, but just get off her bum and do somthing that does not involve her pushing buttons or staring at the box

[society]

Perhaps you could buy her a few books. Some kids enjoy learning to cook; let her spend time with you in the kitchen.

[zzxxee]

i do feel though some kids are left for the t.v to babysit them and no social and conversational skills are developed

[dotty.]

Does she like sports then? At 13 most girls hate sport at school (I didn't as i was good at it lol) but she gets PE at least 3 times a week at school, and how many lessons do you think she has at school that involve PC interaction? You can't control that usage, and you can't expect her to develop other interests when she loves her laptop.
Does she read books? She's the right age to start her on the Twilight saga, you could get her the set of all 4 for Christmas, or see if she will read the Harry Potter, thats probably the best thing for her anyway during the winter,

[zzxxee]

she is a huge reader actually
like i say she is usually very active and out and about but its just the last few weeks since we have had this cold spell she has become a bit more of a telly addict

[yogi-bear]

Hi again zzxxee,

It differs from day to day with our four.......they watch about a couple of hours of tv a night, do their homework, which is sometimes computer based, and go on their PS3's to play online games with their friends too.....ipods also.....FB ......endless phone calls( but not so much lately as they are always texting or chatting online to their friends, but we have free calls all day ).....

In the spring/summer months they hardly watch any tv at all and play games as they are always doing outdoor events, or somewhere with us......perhaps abroad too... or their friends.

As Winter draws in they tend to stay in a little bit more and if they go out, are normally home earlier than in the spring/summer months. They all love sports, my two daughters adore horse riding for a couple of years now and they have their own, whom they love to bits.

The boys are into everything from football, squash, tennis, swimming etc, so go out quite a bit even in the winter months, but not nearly as much.

I think it is important to have hem have time on gthe internet and tv time, but also to get to utilise their time to do other things also, and mrs bear and I dont really need to encourage them too much to vary things about a bit.

It really helps us that we live by the sea too, as this place is just bristling with activity.

[zzxxee]

your kids are lucky cubs indeed bear to have the choice that they have :0)
my girl enjoys her creative writing club she goes to she does go ice skating every saturday

[yogi-bear]

Your daughter's lucky to have a mum that cares for her as much as you, zzxxee........creative writing club is great, and makes them think whilst having fun. Skating is also brilliant, but bearing in mind i have very little sense of balance, i always end up falling straight down on my arse..... We used to go to Streatham Ice Rink , when we lived in South London, but have'nt been for ages. Great fun though. :0)

( Back soon....got to drop eldest son at his college....he's late as overslept....been on a sleepover weekend.......lovely and sunny here on the coast today)

[ummmm]

My son spends most of his computer time listening to music.

[zzxxee]

bye bear x
hi ummmm nice to see you back :0)

[annie0000]

In general we have a 2 hour limit for screen (games/dvds etc) But this is not completely rigid - some days they have barely any as they have after school and evening activities, at the weekends it might be more - especially if the weather is bad, they will get extra time on Wii as long as they do some sort of exercise game. Yesterday for instance they had some time in the morning, and we went to see Harry Potter in the evening, so would probably be 4/5 hours overall, but they did go swimming and skaiting in the afternoon to get outside and were allowed no screen time at all until the movie.

[zzxxee]

sounds fair to me annie x