Weekends Away “Guest”: How Much Do You Limit TV?

I was super excited to write this guest post for Adventures of Frugal Mom.  Thanks so much for having me over to share something with your wonderful readers.  As  parents do you limit how much television your children watch day to day? I find that my children would veg out in front of the T.V.  all day if I would let them.  Luckily my older two really don’t have the extra time to sit in front of the TV they are busy busy with school, friends and extracurricular activities.  Although, our twelve year old I do have to remind of his work and responsibilities quite often.I do set limits on my toddlers TV time.  If not we would get little else done.  Although, I don’t specifically have a set time limit I try to make sure the TV. is turned off and he is exposed to other things each day.  He should be learning from me not the television.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children  under two have no screen time while children two to three  years old and limit their daily exposure to media to one to two hours.   Studies have concluded that their are no risks involved for monitored television. However,  over exposure to media can lead to behavioral problems.  According to a study posted from the Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle states that each hour of television watched by children 1-3 increases the risk of ADHD in children by 10% at age 7.  Some studies have shown an increase in overaggressive behavior .   Background television is also an unnecessary distraction to our children and interrupts their ability to play it is considered part of screen time.    Results posted show a decrease in academic achievement.   A posting on science daily states that “About two-thirds (65 percent) of mothers reported that their 3-year-old child watched more than two hours of television per day. On average, children were exposed to an additional 5.2 hours of household TV use per day” .I think the message is Turn the TV off. I don’t know about you but I find these numbers frightening.  As parents our goal is to have healthy, happy children.  We want to give them every advantage and opportunity possible, and help them achieve to their greatest potential.  I will confess we have to much screen time in my house .  I thought I was mmonitoring , but it is time to just cut the television off and explore , create and play  in its place.    I look forward to hearing your comments on how you limit screen time in your home.