This is from my chiropractor's monthly newsletter:

By high school graduation most children will have spent more time watching TV than they have in the classroom. While it can entertain and inform, it can also influence children in undesirable ways.

12.5% of children are obese, which places them at a higher risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer.

Ten or more hours a week can reduce a childs' rate of success in school.

HALF of 4-6 year olds would rather watch Tv than hang out with their father.

How to lure kids away form TV:

Play sports, ride bikes, garden, even wash the car. Make it fun!

Plan active outings such as to the zoo, museum, theme park, or picnic

Enroll them in classes that include games, sports and exercise programs.

Include their friends in your plans.

Physical activity builds bones and muscles, helps control weight and reduces body fat. It can reduce feelings of depression or anxiety, improve self image and promotes well-being.

Now to my thoughts!! Another great way to increase physical activity is through chores! A kid in the country has plenty to do. My kids love to hike in our woods, build huts and TeePee's, ride bikes, swing on monkey vines, ride their pony and much, much more. Although we don't ban TV entirely, I don't think we have watched more than 4-5 hours so far this month, and most of that really wasn't worth watching. But we have watched some Olympic coverage that the kids enjoyed. There really isn't much on network TV that is fit to watch, and almost all shows have some reference of a sexual nature that I find very discomforting when watching with my children.

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), February 20, 2002

Answers

My parents let each of us 4 children watch 1/2 hour of TV per day. We could each pick our own show to watch - but only 1/2 hour per day. It usually turned out to be Little House on the Prairie! ;) The rest of our time was spent reading, crafts, and of course OUTSIDE building tree houses, having rotten tomato fights & riding bikes.

-- hmm (h.m.metheny@att.net), February 20, 2002.

We went to a token system for our kid. 10 TV tokens. Each token is good for 1/2hr of programming. Tokens are to be used week days only. Weekends have not been an issue since we keep busy on the weekend.

Our child can save up his tokens for a 2hr kids movie, he can use no more than 5 tokens a day. He quickly learned to budget his TV time.

-- Gary in Ohio (gws@columbus.rr.com), February 20, 2002.

I agree with you Melissa--they follow our model. I find that the kids are more likely to do non-tv things if we are doing things with them--like doing things around the farm or playing games with them.

We use TV as a motivator/discipline thing. It helps cut down the TV watching even more. I try to tape science/history shows that are at least educational. Also, I try to tape Little House because I think it is a fun way to learn about history. My kids love the PBS show the 1900's house and are looking forward to the 1800's house. I'll try to post about that later.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), February 20, 2002.

hmm, we were limited to 2 hrs per WEEK! We read books, played with neighbourhood kids (hide and seek was a favourite), learned to crochet, did chores, helped elderly neighbours (mostly running errands), went to the library, tagged along with my dad when he went to the "city" on errands, wrote letters (grandparents, cousins, pen pals), helped with the garden, and generally made up our own wonderful fun.

I believe it about the obesity. When I got to high school, both parents worked, and I was home alone a lot. I started watching soaps (which I now despise), eating junk food, and skipping homework. I gained weight, didn't go out as much, and developed a real bad attitude toward my parents, teachers and life in general. After graduation, my mom quit working (for health reasons, mostly) and I gave up the TV habit. I got involved with our church camp, started babysitting full time, began walking and hiking, and got a whole new outlook on life.

-- Cathy N. (homekeeper86@sympatico.ca), February 20, 2002.