How much TV does your kid watch in daycare?
Are you paying your daycare provider to sit your child in front of the TV for hours a day?
A study published earlier this week suggests that your preschooler could be spending more than 4 hours in front of the TV screen each day if they’re in childcare. Parents have reported that they allow their young children to watch between 2-3 hours of TV a day, add the 2 hours they’re watching from daycare and that’s more than one third of their day when you consider they’re only awake for about 12 hours each day!
The study also suggests that your child is more likely to be plunked in front of the screen for longer periods of time in home-based daycares than large childcare centers. This research was conducted south of the boarder, but is it unreasonable to think this could be just as much a problem in Canada?
Do your kids watch TV in their daycare? Do you know for how long? How do you feel about paying childcare providers to plop your kid in front of a screen? Does it make a difference if the TV program they’re watching is educational? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!
I think it should be a law that home care providers not be allowed to turn on the t.v. when Children are in their daycare. Plopping a child in front of the t.v when they could be actually excercising their brain by reading or playing or doing a craft or exercising is in my opinion just terrible for the child. It only allows the day care provider to spend time doing their own thing and not paying any attention to the child. It is very unfair to the child and allowing them to watch t.v. just shows how the provider is only interested in themselves and not the welfare of the child. I would say that use of the computer as a learning tool for learning games, etc. is allowable for a half hour per day because they are actually exercising their brain. If the t.v. show is actually educational, I would say a half hour maximum per day and for the daycare provider to build on what the child has learned so that they won’t forget it. But that is it.
I agree. Too many kids these days are too used to just sitting there and doing nothing. All they want to do is be entertained.
The trend now is for kids to take in so much stimulation from video games, movies, etc that we have overwieght, high def addicted kids who cannot remain focused on anything with a moving picture.
It is rediculous to think your child would not be put in front of a tv in daycare. Lets be honest. Anyone who works with kids knows you have to compete with what is on the tv, but lets look at our kids.
Obesity in kids is on the rise – why? We have to start somewhere. Lets get our kids active and healthy.
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