How to control your child's TV viewing

The American Academy of Paediatrics gives these tips on its website about children's TV viewing.

Starting when children are very young, most of their media use takes place in the home. This is a great opportunity for you to establish good viewing habits and to begin the process of media education. You can help your children make better use of media by doing the following:

¤ Make a plan. Schedule programme times and choices in advance, just as you would other activities. A plan helps everyone to choose and use media carefully.

¤ Set time limits. Limit children's total screen time. This includes time watching TV and videotapes or DVDs, playing video and computer games, and surfing the internet. One way to do this is to use a timer. When the timer goes off, your child's time is up, no exceptions. The academy recommends no more than one to two hours of quality TV and DVDs a day for older children and no screen time for children under the age of two.

¤ Set family guidelines for content. Help children and teens choose shows, videos and video games that are appropriate for their ages and interests. Get into the habit of checking the content ratings and parental advisories for all media. Use these ratings to decide what media are suitable for your child.

¤ Be clear and consistent with children about media rules. If you do not approve of their media choice, explain why and help them choose something more appropriate.

¤ Keep TV sets, DVD players, video games and computers out of children's bedrooms. Instead, put them where you can be involved and monitor children's use. If children or teenagers are allowed to have a TV set or other media in their bedrooms, know what media they are using and supervise their media choices. If you have internet access, supervise your children while they are online.

¤ Make media a family activity. Whenever possible, use media with your children and discuss what they see, hear and read. When you share your children's media experiences, you can help them analyse, question and challenge the meaning of messages for themselves. During a media activity, help children "talk back", or question what they see. Do this during a violent act, an image or message that is misleading or an advertisement for an unhealthy product.

¤ "Talking back", or asking questions about media messages, builds the lifelong skills your child needs to be a critical media consumer. Discuss how the media messages compare with the values you are teaching your child.

¤ Look for media "side effects". Unless they come clearly labelled as containing violence, sex or graphic language, parents often overlook the messages children are getting from media. Instead, be aware of the media children and teenagers use and the impact it could be having. This is especially important if your child shows any of the following behaviours:

* Poor school performance
* Hitting or pushing other children often
* Aggressively talking back to adults
* Frequent nightmares
* Increased eating of unhealthy foods
* Smoking, drinking or drug use

Talk to your child's paediatrician about any behaviour that is a concern.