How Do You Limit Your Children's "Screen Time"?

My DS is five, so a bit younger than your kids. On weekdays he watches PBS in the mornings while he eats breakfast/ I take a shower. Usually 30 minutes, sometimes a bit more if he happens to get up early. He doesn't have any afternoon screen time during the week accept to check email (he has a Kidoz account) when I tell him he has a message (they get routed through my email).

Friday and Saturday nights, we watch a movie together, plus he's allowed to play on the computer during the day for about an hour each weekend day if and only if his room is clean and his "jobs" are done around the house.

At this point I don't make a distinction between types of screen time because at this point the educational stuff IS the entertainment stuff for him!

HTH
T.

First i guess you need to decide how much is too much for you and yours.

My kids are a little younger and we also got a wii for christmas.

I try to keep it to only an hour 2x during the school week and maybe 5 hours total for the weekend.

Last night we watched videos of the kids as babies, so i bent that guideline a bit because of the family bonding, I love homemovies!

you could set up some sort of a rewards system for them to earn their screen time, I would say Homework comes before TV no matter what, they would be free to play outside or read or draw before homework to unwind but not watch tv. but then they could do chores to earn their time.

But personally i would just set up a plan in my head that monday is the day we might run errands so no tv, Tues we have the extra time so ok, weds mom has night class and you know darn well Nana will have the tv on the whole time, so thrus and fri we go for a walk, or have boyscouts or what ever else so no tv. That is sort of the approach i take.
I hate having the tv on for background noise, i feel guilty if i find i'm using ever educational games on the computer as a babysitter, and I absolutely will not allow TV right before bed time, no good!

so, i hope that was what you wanted to know. You get it set in your head and then work from there.

I definitely allow more educational screen time as opposed to pure entertainment. I don't think there is a set limit you can place on it. As long as they are keeping their grades up, they do their chores, they play outside, etc. then I don't see a problem with letting them play the Wii or watch TV. Don't let them sit in front of it all day, but an hour a day, a couple of hours on the weekend, seems fine to me.

In the mornings if I haven't had a shower by the time they get up, I'll turn on either noggin or PBS kids while I shower/dress. TV is off and we eat breakfast at the table, talk a bit, what are we doing today, etc. Then it's showers or baths for them, dressing for preschool, etc. If there's time afterwards I let them watch a little more. For the rest of the day, we just stay really active! We don't make an official distinction at all of entertainment vs education. We feel that they are learning no matter what they're doing....it's just a matter of choosing what you would hope they'd learn and what habits you hope they pick up and making those fun.
A basic week schedule for us: Mondays we don't have anything planned after preschool but we like to go to a nature preserve about 2 miles from here and hunt giants, explore the woods, etc. Sometimes we have games based on books we've read or I've told child-sized version of to them (Robin Hood, Swiss Family Robinson, Heidi, whatever). If the weather isn't cooperating, we can play games together, sing, wrestle, or I'll get them started playing together (ball, action figures, whatever). My youngest is 16 months old but my oldest is good at teaching him how to play when I model it for him. Kung Fu classes Tues and Fri, Awanas on Wed, and Thursday is our special day to do something together (catch a matinee, go to a bounce house place, Chuck E Cheese, the farmer's market, the playgrounds or parks, go for a walk and talk, etc. Saturdays / Sundays: we have church on Sunday and try to do something like the beach, a park, or a day trip to do something interesting like tour a farm, climb a lighthouse, something "touristy" or family fun on Saturdays. Saturday mornings though, the boys have "dad time" while I do weekly shopping and all that before we do whatever we've got planned for the day...or occasionally, he'll have a day long "dad date" for the kids. We practice writing, reading, math, read books to the kids, practice a little soccer (that season starts in 2 weeks, and the oldest is good and it is hillarious and so fun to see the youngest try), practice kung fu (we are the students and he is the teacher and takes us through his whole routine including warm ups, which is a time to bond, we get a little exercise, but we're building his confidence and skills too), practice learning his Bible verses and what that means for his Awanas, we eat our meals at the table, and whatever time is left, yeah I have no problem at all with him either playing little games on the computer (we like starfall.com or other educational sites where you can play online puzzles, practice putting words together, etc) or watching some TV (Dinosaur Train is greatness for little guys). I think what you should do is make a list of what you want their days to look like, what is important for them to learn and do, and make sure the "good stuff" is done. After that, free time can be free time, however they want to spend that time is up to them (There's not much of it). Sometimes they rest, look at books, watch TV or a movie, or play with their toys. Also, I try to get the basic chores done at our house before preschool is over (dividing the weekly chores to do a little bit every day...the house is not perfect, but good enough for someone to come visit....but if I haven't finished "chores" they are either helping me or I'll put on a video or Wii for them). I think Wii is pretty neat in that they're not just sitting there watching some stupid sitcom and drooling mindlessly. There's some fun, some action that they're taking, they're thinking especially if competing. And fun is good. And now....time to get the boys up! Everyone's sleeping so late today!

During the week my 5yr old earns screen time w/ her behavior at daycare. Each bracelet she earns for good behavior is worth 10 min of screen time. She can earn 3 bracelets total. On the weekends she can have as much more. She is an early riser so at 7am she knows she can come in my room and watch tv. When it gets annoying or she is not listening, it goes off. I allow more on the weekend because it's MY downtime too. I want some time w/out my kiddo on my heels. Sure, it may sound bad mommy like to say, but it's true. I like being able to have some time to myself while she watches a Barbie movie in her room.

When my kids were little they got 4 TV tickets a day. Each ticket was worth 30min. of viewing time - TV, computer, video games all included in that time... Educational/entertainment -- no difference.
If they used their tickets, fine. If they didn't watch TV, they got a quarter for each ticket they turned in. I had one that liked money and the other lived for TV.
My kids are in high school. They don't have time to watch much TV during the week. IF they get to watch one show a night it's a miracle!!
YMMV
LBC

30 min a day in a school week. 2 hours a day on the weekend. TV, DVD, computer, and ds are all the same too me.......so their pick in the 2 hours on the weekend. Family movie night once a weekend does not count though when it is all of us going to a movie or watching together for a friday night family fun night.

Just do a Google Search on the impacts of video games on children.

The Wii, to me, depending on what games they have, are fine.
There are sports, Cooking games, Yoga, exercise games, games that require reading and deductive ability... ie: problem solving. These things do teach kids things.
Then there are just arcade games. Instant gratification stuff.
So it really depends on what kind, of games.. your kids are playing and what you buy for them. Hopefully, kid appropriate games.

My kids, play the Wii. Its fine. They are not crazy with it. Nor playing it all the time.
My kids also watch tv. We tell them what is okay or not. They do know.
And they are fine with that.
If/when we tell them "turn off the tv", they do. Then they do other things or we do other things.
My kids also do computer activities. Learning based activities.
Or they play on my Hubby's iPad. With the kid game apps, which are learning based as well and requires deductive thinking.

Like anything, just have some balance.
And as long as they are doing OTHER things too and, homework and behaving and can do other activities.
When/if my kids are 'bored', we tell them "that's good, now your brain can think of other things to do. Being bored is good."

My Kids, who are 4 and 8, DO know, the difference between 'educational' games and just entertainment.

during the school week, my kids (3, 5, 7) can watch maximum one show (which is about 20 minutes) per day. If they really hussle in the morning, they can watch it before school (for the big kids); otherwise, it's after school but only after homework. Often, they end up not watching anything because we've got other stuff going on.

for video/computer games, it's almost always a reward for doing something academic - completing homework during the week or reading a book/doing homework workbook on the weekends. for during-the-week, i would say that they play no more than 20 minutes; on the weekends, i'm a little looser with the time. they may also watch a movie - at home or at the theater - on the weekend, but not every weekend.

i know that other parents are more liberal with screen time, and i think that's totally fine. for us, we tend to limit because 1) we've usually got other stuff to do and 2) both of my big kids (especailly my son) tend to really zone out when they watch TV. that just can't be good for extended periods of time!

I think that the MOST important thing is to decide what your limits are and clearly convey and enforce them. If kids know what to expect - whether it's you get to watch TV after school for 30 minutes or once a week for 30 minutes - everyone is happier.

Good luck!

PS - on the educational vs. other stuff: I don't make a huge distinction with TV since they don't watch much (though they are just as entertained by Super Why as Star Wars cartoons), but i'm definitely more inclined to give them a little extra time with educational computer games than non.

Professional recommendations are that, yes, you limit it. In fact, it is best to not let them watch at all because of what it does to the brain when the brain is growing so fast. I've just collected ANOTHER article (in Newsweek) on what screen time does to growing minds. It's really disturbing. And no, there is no distinction between education stuff and entertainment.

If you don't mind your kids having some screen time then you need to severly limit it and make them "earn" it for "good" behavior, i.e. the behavior that you want to see. Be specific about what behaviors will earn what amount of time e.g. doing one's homework without having to be reminded earns 15 minutes.

What I've read about the bad effects of screen time has led me to the decision to not provide it all for my kids, who will be 3 soon. Even seemingly benign stuff can have unintended consequences (read NurtureShock).

We used a poker chip system. They earned a white poker chip for each daily homework assignment completed, a red chip for a report or weekly assignment and a blue chip for 1/2 hour piano practice or one sports practice or workout. They could exchange 5 white chips for a red or blue.

It cost them poker chips to watch TV or play video games. 1 red chip for 30 minutes of TV, and 1 blue for 30 minutes of computer/wii games. They saved up to watch movies or to have their friends over for an afternoon of computer games. We keep a timer by the TV and computers.

Their poker chip stash limited the amount of time they could spend in front of a screen, so I didn't have to constantly monitor them. They earned on average, 1 blue and 1 red per day, so they had about an hour of screen time per day. Alot of the TV they choose is educational, they like the history and discovery channel shows. But as long as they choose it, they pay. If I choose for them to watch something, it's "free".

There were times they were out of chips and wanted to play a game. One of them would run outside and practice lacrosse, or go practice piano to earn a chip, then run in to play their game.

My son is 8. We also have the Wii and he likes to watch Disney XD channel and he plays Club Penguin on the computer with his friends from school. I don't really limit him at all. He is in school all day and has lots of activities (karate, basketball, cub scouts, religious school) and he uses the TV or Wii to relax when he gets home. Once in a while I'll say, "Ok too much tv today, let's play a game" but I don't have to do that too much. Usually at some point he'll start playing some sort of game while he has the tv on in the background. I also love playing Wii, and since my son is an only child, we play Wii with him all the time - it's part of our family time. We have family tournaments. We've got all the Grandparents playing it with him too. Club Penguin lets him socialize with his friends. So it's just a matter of how the TV and Wii fit into the mix of everything else your kids are doing. My son loved Wii Tennis so much that he asked to take real tennis lessons. So it's not all bad but you just have to see if you think it is having a negative effect on your kids.

Hope this helps! Good luck.

Get rid of cable, and screen time will limit itself. My family has never subscribed to cable, just netflix and the few DVDs we own. As a result, there isn't anything on, so our whole family (me included!) needs to entertain ourselves by other means. At least one evening a week, we head to a park to play. We take evening walks in the neighborhood. We cook dinner together. We mix it up every once in a while with a trip to a bounce place or a mid-week outing for dinner to somewhere special like the Irvine Spectrum or Downtown Disney.
Granted, the TV is on sometimes while I'm making dinner or trying to get something done without the kids, but we turn it off when that's over. When we do sit in front of the TV, we try to make it a special movie night with popcorn, etc. for the whole family.
My kids aren't into the computer, facebook, etc. yet, but by that age, I suspect they'll be heavily involved with sports & school activities, homework which will naturally limit their screen time as well.

My kids are not allowed to watch any recreational tv during the week. Weekends I do not really monitor it, but they arent' always that interested.
My son watches Phinieas and Ferb sometimes, and maybe Pokemon.

We do watch a history film maybe once or twice a week. I homeschool.
They are allowed to do school related computer work. Otherwise they have 1/2 hour in the evenings to play their computer games, if they complete their school work.

This is a great question!
in our home we dont make a distinction between educational and non educational, except WHEN we allow them to use computer/tv, because you can learn things from books as well as tv and computer, so they arent essential in the learning process.
But we are like you, we let them play educational games and watch educational tv and we have movie night once a week. each week its somebody elses turn to chose the movie, to avoid fighting and watching more than one movie a week!
We definitely limit computer and tv time. when my kids were tiny we used to watch tv all day and i HATED it. so now i allow them to watch at most two hours a day and play on computer for 30 minutes. and that is only if they earned it. like finishing homework and chores.
screen time is a reward, not a privilege!
in fact, i even do that for myself! if i cleaned up the kitchen or front room after the kids went to bed, then i reward myself with a tv show on hulu or an hour blogging, etc.

the last two summers, I insisted that my son do an outside activity before hitting the electronics. It worked so well that he actually went without tv/gaming quite a few times!

As for the school year, we really don't make that big of a deal out of tv/gaming. Homework has to be done, as do chores. My younger son is 14 & heavily involved in school clubs/sports, Scouts, & religion school. What little time is available.....doesn't amount to much!

For our family, the early school years were a breeze for this issue. But fair warning, wait until they're teens & into RPGs & warfare......OMG!! I want to rip the system out of the room most weekends! XBox Live is very popular with the teen group.....almost all of my son's friends are on it.

Soooo, back to your kids: throw them outside regularly! It really helps with controlling the whole tv/gaming part of life.

My kids are 6 and 4 (boy and girl). I used to think that I needed to keep a tight reign on the amount of screen time my kids get. 20-30 mins per day and that's it. Then God blessed with a son who loves technology, is academically advanced and athletically gifted. He is technically in Kindergarten, but is reading at 1st/2nd grade level and is doing 1st grade math. And his technology level is better than most of the adults I know. I am always two steps behind him trying to catch up and find things that will keep him mentally and physically challenged. So I have had to radically change my views on "screen time". I don't give him a time limit on it. But he does have to earn it. We part time homeschool him (3 days a week) and he attends a charter school 2 full days a week. He earns his afternoon/evening screen time priviledges by being respectful to his teacher (whether that's Mommy teacher or Mrs. Perez), getting all of his schoolwork done each day, and getting his chores done. If he does his "job" during the day, he can play games on his laptop or Ipod Touch, watch DVD's etc.

The only rules are that they must complete their "Job" during the day and they can only play or watch games/videos that we approve of. We are a Christian family and so we are definitely more conservative than other families are. We do closely monitor what our kids are viewing. While I let my son have free range on the internet, he knows that he is only allowed to go to certain sites. He is the tech wizard that can reprogram any parental settings we would put on his laptop, so there is no point in me setting them. Instead we just tell him that he can go to site "A" or "B". If we find him on an unapproved site he loses all his tech privileges. That means no Ipod Touch and no Laptop for the rest of the day. Our kids are not allowed to watch SpongeBob, the Simpsons, and most of the "kid" shows on Disney because they are all about witches or rude/inappropriate language is used. We have found that for our kids, especially our son, if we have the reigns too tight, he seeks out the wrong thing to do. But when we let him have free reign, he actually chooses the right thing. As I type, my son is sitting next to me on his laptop playing Jumpstart Math games. And my almost 4 yo daughter chose to watch a Boz Christian DVD in the living room. Everyone is doing something constructive and having fun.

We also have "Quiet Time" in our house 2-3 times a week where everything is turned off and the kids either play in their rooms or have to come up with ideas on their own to keep them occupied for about 2 hrs. They balk for a few minutes about not being able to play on the computer or watch tv. But they can either play nicely and find something to do, or they can fuss about it and lose all their screen time for the rest of the day/night.

But you need to find the balance that works for your family. We are okay with our kids getting unlimited screen time because we know what they are viewing and they have a balanced, active life. Everyday we play outside or go to the park. We feed them healthy food, they both are advanced and go well in school, they get along great with other kids of different ages, the love going to church, they are involved in the kids choir activities, both are active in the sports activities they like to play (our son loves basketball and running around the park making up adventure games and our daughter loves riding her scooter or bike and running around the block). So as long as their screen time is the same or less as their physical activity time, we are good.

And if we start to see negative affects of their screen time, we will make whatever changes necessary. If they start acting disrespectful to others or their grades start slipping, their screen time privileges will be gone.

When our kids were little they were given 1 hour a day, and it was up to them if it was TV, computer or Ninetendo. J.

Hi there, my boys are a year older than your kids (9 and 7) and they get 45 min a day (split into 2 sessions) of tv OR wii OR computer fun (we just call it 'screen time') If they are doing educational work on the computer it doens't count towards that. Rainy days, weekends/Friday nights all get extra time, in 20-30 minute increments (unless they are watching a movie, then that's it for the day).
They are only allowed half of their screen time on weekdays until all homework is done, then they can have the other half. Weekends they can
'blow it' all at once, if they want ;-) Hope this helps. Enjoy your precious family! (and, you might want to give the Wii a try too, it's kinda fun! lol)

My best friend used to make her kids buy screen time with reading time. Read for 30 minutes, you can play wii for 30 minutes. Read for 20 minutes, computer games for 20... It seemed a little extreme to me, but it worked for her. Her daughter read more and played less. Currently she's a very independent straight A student, I'm pretty sure all the reading had something to do with it!

Good luck!