Lil' Techies

A few years back I coined the term “TV-Heads” for the boys to warn them about spending too much time watching TV or playing computer (computer-heads). My oldest has actually acknowledged this as a real condition–he describes his head being fuzzy and his burning when spending too much time watching shows. Our youngest talks about too much TV making him “less smart”.

In October, the Neilson reports suggested that kids are watching more TV than ever–about 32 hours a week. That is an entire day’s worth of television in one week. This is not surprising to me with the 24 hour kids cartoon stations, DVDs and DVRs to record their favorite shows.

What is a good amount of television for kids? The AAP suggests 2 hours/day (14 hours a week), but even more so, suggests that the type of television kids are watching is more detrimental than the hours spent watching it.