# The Alternative to TV

> Television has become something habitual and indispensable for the youngest children. Children get used to it from a very early age and, at...

- **Author:** eugenia-olego · **Category:** Adultos
- **Published:** 2015-05-31 · **Updated:** 2020-06-15
- **URL:** https://elteuespai.com/en/the-alternative-to-tv/
- _Translation pending clinical review._

---


Television has become something habitual and indispensable for the youngest children. Children get used to it from a very early age and, sometimes, they spend too many hours in front of it.

## Is television bad for children?

And the question that many parents ask themselves is: **Can watching it harm them when they are very young?** According to the conclusion of psychologists and pedagogues from all over the world, it is almost unanimous: the problem is not that TV is bad, but that everything depends on the use made of it, and **indiscriminate and unlimited use** can indeed create a drawback for some areas of the child's life.

**The key is to find a balance** in which TV is an educational and fun tool for them. But we can also look for alternatives so that the child does not fall into a TV addiction, and to prevent it we are going to give you a series of recommendations:

## Recommendations for limiting television use

- Read to your children from when they are babies: **Encourage reading** from when they are very young.

- Encourage active recreation: Try to get your child **interested in sports, games and music**. Show them concerts of different types of music from a very young age, take them to see different types of sport live and have them do different types of obstacle courses.

- Do crafts together: There are thousands of resources to **do crafts with the whole family** (origami, clay figures, etc.). With this we encourage creativity.

- Limit the time: One alternative is to **limit television to one hour on school nights** and to two or three hours on weekends.

  [![Correct use of television in children](/images/blog/2015/06/el-uso-correcto-tv-en-los-ninos-274x173-1.webp)](/images/blog/2015/06/el-uso-correcto-tv-en-los-ninos-274x173-1.jpg)

- It is not a distraction. **Do not use the TV as a distraction**. Television for preschool-age children should be limited to special programs produced for young children. Since the difference between fantasy and reality is not clear, normal programs can cause fears.

- **Homework comes first**. If the child is doing poorly at school, limit TV time to half an hour a day. Establish the rule that the child must first finish their homework before watching TV.

- **Turn off the television during meals**. Family time is currently more limited, so we must realize that these moments when we can be together are valuable. During meals, encourage communication.

- **Prohibit violent programs**. This means that you must know what your child is watching and turn off the television if it does not seem to you that the program is good.

- Make **separate lists of the programs** that are suitable for young children and for older children to watch. Make older children responsible for keeping younger ones out of the room where the TV is when they watch programs that are not allowed for the younger ones.

- Set an example. If you spend a lot of time watching television, you can be sure that your child will do the same. In addition, the type of programs you watch send a very clear message to your child.

- Encourage them with cooking. This also provides the possibility of entertaining your children in a very tasty way. With your help they will be able to **prepare simple recipes and discover the pleasure of giving their loved ones**, and themselves, delicious dishes and sweet desserts.

- Increase **board games**. We can refer both to modern games and classic ones (cards, parchís, snakes and ladders, battleship, connect 4, etc.).