What kind of TV programs does your child watch?

China
April 7, 2010 10:01am CST
My 5-year-old niece loves watching TV, especially the sitcoms with her grandparents almost every night. I don't think she should be allowed to watch so much TV that is unsuitable for her age and development. And she is going into a primary school soon. I'm worried that it might be difficult for her to kick the habit of watching TV. What kind of TV programs should your children be allowed to watch? Can you name some of the TV programs or movies your children usually watch? And how much television should they be allowed to watch?
4 people like this
13 responses
@youless (112103)
• Guangzhou, China
8 Apr 10
My son will be six years old in June. He is not very interested in watching TV. He likes to watch a few cartoons and America's Funniest Homevideos. That's his favorite TV show. He always laughs when he watches it. I love China
@youless (112103)
• Guangzhou, China
8 Apr 10
Yes, he watches the original version in English. Tom and Jerry doesn't have many dialogues and it's easy for children to understand the cartoons. As to America's Funniest Homevideos, everybody can understand it even if they don't know English.
• China
8 Apr 10
Well, yes, my niece likes Tom and Jerry. And so do I. But she seldom watches English videos.
• China
8 Apr 10
Thank you! Does he watch the original versions in English?
1 person likes this
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
7 Apr 10
Hi, desperatehousewife. My kids love to watch PBS kids and Noggin. They also love to watch Sesame Street. They love many shows on Noggin. They also like to watch The Disney Channel too. I usually let them watch up to two hours of television a day.
• China
8 Apr 10
Thank you. I wonder if you're by their side when they're watching TV to share the job or give them some guidance.
• China
8 Apr 10
Rather share the joy.
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
7 Apr 10
My 18 year old son enjoys watching any kind of movie with a lot of action. My 13 year old daughter watches a lot of Disney channel. She also loves watching Twilight and Secret Life of the American Teenager.
• China
8 Apr 10
Thank you. It seems that boys tend to prefer adventure and action movies or programs, while girls are interested in drama and romance ones. Is that right?
• United States
7 Apr 10
My children watch mainly Disney Channel shows, cartoons and others. Phineas and Ferb, Lilo and Stitch, and Hannah Montana are some of their favorites. They are allowed usually an hour on school nights and up to 3 hours on weekends to watch television. The rest of the time they have to find other things to do to stay occupied, whether it be reading, playing outside, or educational games on the computer. All movies or television shows have to be approved by me before they can watch them, though. There is too much stuff out there that is by far too inappropriate for children!
• United States
7 Apr 10
I love that you put a time limit on how much they can watch T.V., most parents don't set those limits and their kids become airheads who drool while watching T.V. I think all parents should make their kids play outside instead of sitting three feet from a big screen full of mostly useless information and videos.
@Cutie18f (9551)
• Philippines
8 Apr 10
We have a 7-year-old kid at home and she watches cartoons much of the time. She does not go for sitcoms or any other shows. All she loves watching are her favorite cartoons.
• China
8 Apr 10
Well, it seems that your daughter is self-disciplined.
• Philippines
8 Apr 10
my daughter loves watching barney, mickey mouse and dora.hehehe after waking up. she will wake me up and ask me to switch the computer so she could watch it via youtube. i dont recommend children to watch sitcoms or any tv shows. becuase they can easily adopt things that are not good. like violence foul language.
• China
8 Apr 10
Thank you.
• United States
7 Apr 10
My girl watches pbs kids. I think a few hours of tv is ok. I dont think its healthy when all there doing is watching tv.
• China
7 Apr 10
Yes, to much TV is bad for children's health, both physical and mental. Thank you very much.
@1anurag1 (3576)
• India
7 Apr 10
i dont have children but i have seen and experienced that children today are getting wiser in small age and this is not really good. as they know what are physical relation and all etc in the age lower than they must know. i think this is really not good to watch those kind of tv serials which are not suitable for them in early age.
• China
8 Apr 10
I understand, I haven't had kids yet.
• Philippines
7 Apr 10
Let her watch cartoons. I heard cartoons are good for kids for their color recognition. She shouldn't be watching sitcoms. There could be adult contents in the dialogues.
@Emvy548 (387)
• India
7 Apr 10
Kids love cartoons and children's programs which pertain to arts and crafts. Now there is a variety to keep children busy and they remain glued to the TV. Cartoons like Tom and Jerry even entertain adults as much they make children laugh. I am pleasantly surprised that Charlie Chaplin is still popular after three quarters of a century. Having stated that, it remains in the interest of the child that TV should be regulated. A good benchmark is 2-3 hours of TV in a day and maybe an hour extra on holidays. Keep children active in sports and outdoor games so that TV is not their only pastime or form of entertainment. If children remain glued to TV they run the risk of becoming obese and growing up into overweight adults. They will also miss out many wonderful sports and the chance of becoming great sports men and women.
• China
8 Apr 10
You're right. Children should participate in a variety of outdoor activities instead of staying at home all day. It's a good way to reduce childhood obesity, as well as improve some of the skills, like observation and communication ones.
• United States
7 Apr 10
I don't have any children, but I do babysit my six year old nephew quite often. When he watches T.V. he usually watched Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. I agree that a lot of what he watches is definitely not suitable for his age. I always feel more comfortable when he watches shows that are more educational like Animal Planet or PBS. I don't mind letting him watch older cartoons, but the newer ones are slightly risque.
• China
8 Apr 10
Well, yes, some cartoons are not suitable for children which contain dirty words, violence, brutality and blood. We should be alert.
@ridwan08 (1183)
• Indonesia
7 Apr 10
i dont have child because i not yet married.but i have nephew he always disney channel and dora the exploler.but i think dora the exploler more educated and more fun than disney channel.dora can teach child about something new for child and i like this program,recommended for child.
• China
7 Apr 10
I appreciate your recommendation. Maybe I should watch dora the explorer myself. :)
• India
7 Apr 10
It i9s common problem in every house, children loves TV watching, my younger kid wanna watch always cartoons, T.V family drama, historical drama serial. Wll let any program running he wanna watch, elder son watches game of cricket and music channels. Wanna control then control on yourself is first, especialy it is a bad habit that to take always lunch/dinner while watching T.V, insist clearly no T.V while on the food table, it will reduce his attraction a bit in T.V programmes.
• China
8 Apr 10
Yes, if we want to keep children's TV time under control, we must limit our TV time at first. Parents should set a good example to their children.