kids and media time

[kidsandmama]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post...If it needs to be moved to another place, please do so. 

For those of you who allow your kids to do media - tv, movies, ds, etc.  How much time do you let them have and how do you set it up?  How do you monitor it?

I would prefer to just let them do media on the weekends, but in the spirit of compromise with my husband they are able to watch a little during the week.  My son who is 12 years old gets 4 1/2 hours per week and my daughter who is 9 years old gets 3 1/2 hours per week. They can also do some media in the car on long trips, but this is separate.  We have a chart that they fill in with 15 minute increments.  One problem is that when the timer goes off, they often say, "Just one more minute"!  Perhaps if we did 30 minute increments instead?

Anyway, I just wanted to see what other people are doing and get some ideas.

Thanks!  Collette

[ollyoxenfree]

Honestly, I wouldn't be able to maintain that kind of system because I would never keep track of every minute (or 15 minutes). It just wouldn't work for us. That doesn't mean it won't work for you and others. I can understand the need to put limits in place. 

We don't really limit screen time. Instead we encouraged them to fill up their schedules with other activities. They had to finish their homework and get out to a full schedule of extra-curricular activities. We supplied them with lots of great books, games, crafts etc. If they wanted to watch t.v. or spend some time on the computer after that, then it was fine. Sometimes I like to unwind in front of the t.v. or computer too. 

Would it help to limit the kind of things they are doing with media, rather than the time? There are some good educational websites, e-books, and educational you-tube videos for kids. They could start learning some programming or make their own videos, animation, audio recordings etc. 

If I had kids who were obsessive about screen time, I might have tried to set time limits. One issue I see is the extra hour that your 12 y.o. gets. I'm not sure that I understand the rationale for it. I'd keep things equal between the children.

[Emmeline II]

We do a flat 1hr on school days and don't usually limit them on the weekends. I found that doing less that 1hr didn't work well for video games because there isn't enough time to complete anything, and for TV because it felt really brief to them. Once I expanded to 1hr (I use a kitchen timer with 10 & 5 minute warnings) and stuck to it, the "1 more minute" requests stopped after a few days.

Between my homework, their homework, housekeeping, cooking, and making sure we all get to bed on time I find that keeping to a schedule works best for me; limiting their media time helps keep things consistent for them (less arguing all around) and it is usually easier for them to break away from other activities than media.

[4Marmalade]

The summer is a kind of all over the place but generally the tv is on for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours each day.  Ds1 and dd1 each get to pick a 30 minute show and then ds2 and dd2 get to watch a 30 minute show.  Sometimes they all watch each others shows, sometimes they only watch the one show so it varies.  This happens in the morning.  Once in a while the tv goes off in the afternoon or sometimes ds1 will get to watch a show with dh or myself after the younger kids are in bed.

Once school starts we have a no tv rule during the week for the older two.  We've all agreed (even the kids) that things are rushed enough as it is and we would rather have those few hours to spend as a family.  I imagine I will let the yonger two watch a 30 minute show in the morning after the school bus is gone to give me time to sit down and have a cup of coffee.  The weekends won't be restricted too much but it's usually only on for a bit each morning before we get going for the day.

We don't have any video game systems and the kids play computer games so rarely that we don't bother with limits at this point.