Many tots watch 32 hours of TV a week

I found this story on MSNBC News
In New York, this report refers to the television being called the "electronic baby sitter." The Nielsen Co says, "Children ages 2 to 5 watch more than 32 hours of television each week. Kids 6 to 11 spend a little less time in front of the TV screen---more than 28 hours." The main reason this older group of kids have a lower hour rate is because those kids are in school, and have less time to watch television. According to this study, this has been the highest number of hours for children aged 2-11 since the year 1995. Nielsen also says, "Children ages 6 to 11 play video games on a television for nearly 2 1/2 hours a week on average."

My first reaction to this story was that I have a 3 year old and a 7 year old. And the hours on this report seemed kind of high for my kids.

However, both my children have their own television in their rooms, with a cable box so they can watch cartoons. And my oldest, the 7 year old-Elijah, has a play station in his room as well. I think kids spend a lot of time watching TV; however I would allow my 7 year old to watch as much TV as possible because he loves the Discovery Channel. He always comes out of his room and tells us something interesting he learned on a show he's watching. Elijah is very smart, even his teacher told us the other day at his parent teacher conference that he is well advanced past the other students. He tries to learn everything he can, and he is so smart. I know kids sit around and watch TV, and I completely agree with it being "a built in babysitter," but if your child can find something good to watch and it will help him/her more than hurt them, then I don't see a problem with it. On the other hand, all of my children get plenty of time outside as well. Elijah plays football, which is over now for this year, and he'll play baseball coming in a few months. They all love to be outside doing things. I know some kids just sit and watch cartoons, and they really don't advance in learning anything, and sometimes it's just because their parents are to lazy too spend the time to teach them things. My son, Elijah, and I have math books we do together, and he loves to read, so we do that as well. Even if he is watching a lot of television, he is also getting a lot of learning time in between.

I think if parents allow their children to watch TV, great, especially if they are watching educational programs. But parents need to make sure they are spending time with their children without involving the television. Letting kids get fresh air playing outside, this to can also prevent your child from being overweight. I know there are so many parents out there who are worried about their child being overweight, but look at the statistics. This is probably why most American kids are getting overweight, is because they spend too much time sitting on their rear ends doing nothing. Parents need to set an example for their kids. The earlier your child learns about getting exercise, and staying healthy, the better it will influence them. This will keep your child from setting around getting obese like half of Americans are.