Screen Time on a School Night

I've never restricted TV in my house. I guess I've never had the need to. I have a 10 year old and a 15 year old. They are very active and the 10 year old is so busy playing with friends after school etc. But on the chance if there wasnt anyone to play I would let her watch TV. Just not a real battle for me. They do not have TV's in their rooms. We have a gameroom upstairs. Alhough Im not against TV's in bedrooms either. If we didnt have a gameroom, they would probably have a TV in rooms. I'm with Denise P. to me the TV is not the devil. I dont get the big stigma behind it. I have an A honor daughter and the 10 year old is doing just fine. No damage to the ol' noggins yet :)

None and no.

Edit: We don't have a TV. Weird, right? But haven't had one in five years and so glad I don't have one when we go to a hotel or my parents' house.

Yes, they both have TV's and DVD players in their rooms. They are the cheapest kind so if they get broken it's not the end of the world. They are 4 and 7. If their stuff is done then I see no reason to boss their free time and make them do what I want them to do. They can spend their free time doing whatever they choose. Their TV's may be on all the time but they hardly ever just sit and watch it, they are usually playing and it's background noise. There are certainly shows I don't allow and they always go change it to something else. They don't have access to every channel either. I have their TV's set to only go to Nickelodeon and Disney. I would love to include the Cartoon Network in that but Adult Swim in the middle of the night is just not something that I can stomach.

If his homework is completed, he usually wants to go outside for a bit. Then if he wants to, he can play Wii or watch some TV. and yes, my son has a TV in his bedroom. He's an active kid and I don't see the harm, nor do I believe television is the devil. Most of what my kid watches is history, or nature with some fun stuff thrown in.

No TV during the week and no TV in their room. My kids are 15, 16, and 18 and share a room.

One 30 minute show just before bed.

No, never will either.

We have a general "no TV" rule during the school week for our first grader; weekends are ok. No TV/DVD player in her room.

My answer is similar to Christy P.'s. We don't have cable, just an antenae (sp?) downstairs, netflix, the occassional movie from Red Box & whatever we've already got on dvd. We all have tv's in our rooms, but again, it's not a whole lot of good without cable or a decent dvd. With that being said, I don't limit my kids tv time & I never have, even when we DID have cable. I screen what they watch & when. I ensure their homework is complete, & I decide if they've been sitting inside on a beautiful day instead of outside playing. I don't believe in all-or-nothing in my house, I think it causes more resentment than it's worth.

For 10 year old, 1 hour, including computer and video game time.

No TV or DVD player in his room.

We have one television and when it is on we as a family are watching it together.
There typically isn't time for my boys to watch t.v on school nights between homework, dinner and extra-curricular activities. When they do manage to finish their homework before bedtime I'll let them watch something we approve or get in some PC time. They are 13 and 17.

My kids will never again have a t.v in their room. We tried it a few years ago and homework wasn't getting done, they became insolent when I asked them to do a simple chore, etc....

The way I see it, they have their adult lives to watch what they want whenever they want. It is my hope though that they "get" that there are far more interesting things to do with their time than sit in front of t.v. or computer screen all day.

They get 1/2 hour when they get home from school. Kind of a cool down from school. Then there is snack and homework. Play time, family time, dinner time, bath thime, bedtime. If, for some reason there is any extra time, which if I am honest there always is about another 1/2 hour, then they get to watch it if homework is all done. On soccer practice days there is no TV at all. No time.
There is no TV or DVD player in their room. I want to know what they are watching and how often they are watching TV.
L.

My 9 year old doesn't really want to watch TV in the evenings. She'd rather play on the computer. She gets about an hour an evening. She does have a TV in her room, but like I said, she doesn't really use it!

My boys are 7 and 13. They don't have TVs in their rooms, only one in the living room and one in our room. They only get 30 minutes of TV or computer on school nights, and neither one of them complains at all. If they have homework that requires the computer that doesn't count. I love the peace and quiet in the evenings.

As of now, they play Wii or computer on Fridays, Sats., and Sundays only. They love Giants games, so I'll let them watch those a time or two during the week if all their homework is done. We tape them so we can fast-forward during the commercials.
Other than sports, there are no shows that they're interested in. BUT they loovvve computer games and Wii. I have to regulate it or else they would play all day. Love the peace and quiet of no screens during the week!

Also, our kids don't have tv or computers in their rooms. No judgement, just not necessary in our eyes. (Oh, and they are 10 and 7)

On school days other than the morning news they are not allowed to watch tv. I have found that on days when I was lax their attitude towards they homework was disagreeable.

I dont belive TV is that BAD, I let her watch one show a night and a movie over weekend.

Limit us to kids show and Wii. We do have Gymnastics, Swim, Bike, Kumon in a week to go out too!! and after school payground.

My 16 year old has cable TV in his room. My triplets do not. After school they get a snack, do homework and if the weather is decent they can go out to play for a bit. Otherwise they get one or two half hour shows that are on DVR that I pre-record. I choose shows on PBS that are fun learning shows. I never do shows that are above their age. When I DVR and have parental block on all TVS then I get control over what they watch. But after dinner it is a no TV time for them. Dinner, shower and bed. If there's time then they can read a book or play quietly in their room before bed at 8pm. They're 6 turning 7 next month.

They came out with a study on TV today about young children being too stimulated, not learning as well, when they watch active cartoons. I've known this for years and have been trying to tell others as well. Spongebob was an example, and that's one show I don't like my kids watching. I've noticed with my triplets that if they watch a slower paced show then they will not be as hyper so they are not allowed to watch Spongebob or other shows that are above their age or just too hyper. Not during the week at least. My older boys did not watch much TV after dinner either. The end of dinner marked clean up, showers, and quiet time to get them into bed on time and in the right frame of mind.

**I wanted to add that our rule has been you can have a TV in your room at 16, but it's circumstantial depending on the child. (not sure how this will work with triplets) Our oldest son now 24 wasn't allowed cable because he was a TV junky and we only allowed certain movies in his collection. Our 16 year old now rarely plays his Wii and only watches TV to watch baseball games that we DVR for him (Yankees fan) and we have parental control on his TV as well. He's not allowed to watch rated R, only TV13/14 or lower and all gaming and such is blocked along with individual channels since some stations don't use proper judgement on ratings so we block Comedy Central, rated X channels, MTV and BET (some music videos are nasty) and others. Otherwise, the kid is sporty and is outside practicing baseball or running around doing something with friends.
**

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

My boys are 5 and 7. If it is nice outside, they are to be outside playing, and than they can watch 30 or 40 minutes of tv to help settle down. They do have their own Tv in their room.

We do not allow ANY screen time after dinner on school nights.

I do allow some TV in the morning before school during breakfast (so long as it doesn't become a problem) and also allow some screen time in the short period of time between after homework and before dinner if they want to have it.

We do not have cable, so their options are very limited anyway. We do allow Netflix streaming movies or TV shows ONLY on Fri or Sat nights IF they have gone to bed nicely and have had good behavior around their responsibilities during the school week.

No TVs in bedrooms, but we do allow Netflix shows on their Ipods or a laptop on Fri or Sat evenings. We take all the electronics out though, when we decide it's time for bed.

I tested out the "TV in the room" thing over the Summer. Since we'd never really bothered with it before, it had a certain novelty for a while, but now my kids hardly ever watch.

We don't have cable, so all the have are a few movies and whatever I get from Netflix.

I usually kick them outside after homework and before dinner. Unless it's raining or ridiculously hot/cold, they have no business hanging out in front of the TV.

My child is 5 (will be 6 in December). Screen time on school nights is very limited. No tv dvd in bedroom--we have only one tv/dvd/entertainment system in our home. There are days/weeks that go by when it isn't on. The pediatrician said no more than 1/2 hour per day. One book I read said no more than 2 hours per week with children ages 6-9. Do what you think is right and what works for you. Sometimes we allow more, because I'm just plain tired, and yes, it's a great babysitter (but I reserve that for when I'm really tired).

No TV unless homework is completed. When TV is allowed, it is limited to PBS documentaries and shows until bedtime. They usually only get to watch about 2-3 hours of TV altogether each week. We're really busy on weekends, so usually no TV at all.

No TV in their room. There is a DVD player only to be used for trips and when in bed sick. Our kids are still in elementary school.

none (weekends we usually watch a movie one night and a special show the other)

no. They are 10, 13.

No TV, DVD or computer in her room. She is turning 8 this month. We have all equipment in our play/media room and in family room but not in her bedroom.
During weekdays, if everything is done (homework, piano lesson, reading) after she is ready for bed, she gets to watch her favorite age appropriate tv program (for about 30-45 min). Like yesterday she was finishing watching Eloise at the Plaza.