It is now a norm that children watch an excessive amount of television and do not engage much in active or creative activities. This trend can be caused by a number of factors and parents can address this by taking definite actions.
Reasons for the trend vary. The primary reason is that children’s television programmes are being broadcast all day with addictive content, such as vivid and colourful animation. Cartoon Network and Disney Channel with their day-long series of animation shows are evident examples of this. Another clear reason is that parents nowadays are busy with their work, so they want children to focus on an activity that does not require much of their attention, such as watching television. This tends to make children spend more time in front of the television screen instead of participating in active or creative activities.
A number of strong measures should be implemented to tackle the issue. The first solution is limiting the amount of time that a child can watch television. This could be done by activating the parental control mode and setting a fixed operating time limit on their television set. Another feasible solution is that parents could spend more time with their children engaging in outdoor or creative activities. They could, for example, form a family sport team that practices on a regular basis, which may appeal to children more than television.
In conclusion, children tend to watch too much television because of the appealing content on various channels and the lack of playing time with their parents. They may start to join more active and creative activities once their parents spend more time with them and the parental control mode on television sets is activated.