Bringing up children is the most complex job you’ll ever have, though it’s easier when there is some agreement on how to do it. As long as they know they are loved and cared for, and you keep them safe there are very few absolute rights and wrongs about bringing up children. Children need rules and limits to help them feel safe.It’s also helpful for them to understand that parents make most of the important decisions that affect them and the reasons why. As they get older, children get to have more say about what happens in their lives.
Even when they are little, children benefit from making some decisions, because they learn from making good and bad choices. If you keep rescuing children from their own decisions, they don’t learn anything (except that mum and dad are a soft touch). Sometimes breaking the limits, you set is a good way for children to rebel and assert their independence in a safe way – better they test the limits at home than out in the wider. We as elders are the most significant role model in their lives.
Many of such choices which we thrust upon our kids since the time they land into world become their obsessions. We use these choices as just time pass to entertain our kids, or rather, a means of babysitting our kids but later on these options just not remain as baby sitters but become addictions for our kids and engulf our child fraternity completely. One of such monstrous addiction is TV Viewing habit which later on slowly turns into a deadly addiction without which children can’t recognize their lives.
Television has its good side as well as bad side too. It can be entertaining and educational, and can open up new worlds for kids, giving them a chance to travel the globe, learn about different cultures, and gain exposure to ideas they may never encounter in their own community. Television Shows with a prosocial message can have a positive effect on kids’ behaviour; programs with positive role models can influence with positive lifestyle changes. However, the reverse can also be true: Kids are likely to learn things from TV that parents don’t want them to learn. TV can affect kids’ health, behaviour and family life in negative ways. It’s worthwhile for us to think about what role we want TV to play in our kids lives. Today’s generation of children and adolescents is growing up immersed in media, using platforms that allow kids to both consume and create content, including broadcast and streamed television and movies; sedentary and active video games; social and interactive media that can be creative and engaging for both individuals and groups; and even highly immersive virtual reality. This media landscape is completely different from what many parents grew up around, so it can be overwhelming at times. In 1970, children began watching TV regularly at about 4 years of age, whereas today, children begin interacting with digital media as young as 4 months of age. Excessive viewing of Television, use too close to bedtime, or viewing violent content are associated with worse sleep, higher obesity risk, and worse developmental and academic outcomes.
In today’s technology and entertainment-focused world, the variety of television programming and instant streaming (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Hotstar, voot, Prime) is basically limitless. In the past two decades, shows have become a quick download away and are ever-focused on a growing target audience–our kids.
Instantly streamable kid movies and shows are not only prolific–they are fiercely competitive and lucrative. Some may be solely entertaining, while others aim to be moral and educational. Some even captivate and amuse the parents (while others, no doubt, annoy).
Marvel movies, as mentioned above, aren’t even family movies per se–but kids love them. In any genre, the goal of television programming is to be wildly entertaining and addictive to audiences.
Now our prime concerns which can serve the cause are how to stop this addiction and save our kids getting drowned in dark future. It may start small, with our little ones watching an extra episode of Doremon or our teenager negotiating an extra 15 minutes of MTV Roadies. But then, all of a sudden, our kids are spending multiple hours a day glued to the screen. children throwing tantrums, becoming irritable, or acting uncontrollably when we remove the television, this is a clear indication of an unhealthy dependence, consistently staying up late and losing sleep due to television, Irregular sleep patterns and consistent loss of sleep, child always choosing television over other traditionally fun and social activities, are all clear-cut signs of TV addiction which need to be curbed immediately. But, the question arises how can we do that? So, answer lies here:
Organising Playdates
Let’s invest some time in our kids taking them as our future investment bonds. Organising a game, involving whole of the family, going outdoors, getting some innovations done can surely drift our children away from television.
Getting Creative Indoors
Making child more creative, involving him/ her in baking sessions, creating kitchen gardens, planting and watering plants , painting the pots, cooking tasty snacks for family and finally getting appreciation, making him fitness freak will surely turn him away from television.
Escaping into the world of books
Books still remain a child’s best friend if you cultivate a habit of book reading and proves to be one of the best alternatives for TV. They provide a means for your child to escape into another world. There are plenty of books to choose from. You can get your child started on something that she likes and then slowly steer her towards other genres. Once your child gets hooked to books and reading, she will automatically cut down on TV time all on her own.
Set a Timer:
A timer can always be set for kids as a bargain for doing their share of job with a limited period of TV watching. This will surely instill a sense of discipline in them with simultaneous curbing of TV watching time , henceforth bringing good results in children.
Most schools prefer that they approach with a lesser screen time technology for their kids for the better health of kids but since we are living in a digital world and as the present scenario of covid19 demanded total lockdown, so we needed to shift to virtual schools with online education. ASPAM SCOTTISH NOIDA, one of the Best Schools of Noida, is also one of the top runners in Virtual Schooling advice all the parents to make their home environment so conducive that Children get a little TV exposure and safe from screen radiations. This would surely compensate for the screen exposure the kids are getting during their virtual schools and hence safeguard children’ s eye health. Moreover, reducing TV addiction may emphasize on strengthening relationships and bonds which may result into happier and healthier relationships.
