Avoid TV viewing for children under the age of two years.

Research on early brain development shows that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents and caregivers for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Therefore, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that young children be discouraged from watching TV programs.

Encourage active recreation.

Help your child become interested in sports, games, hobbies, and music. Occasionally turn off the television and take a walk or play a game with your child.

Read to your children.

Begin reading to your child by 1 year of age and encourage him to read on his own as he becomes older. Some parents help children earn TV or video game time by equivalent reading time. Help him improve his conversational skills by spending more of your time talking with him.

Limit TV time to 1-2 hours a day for older children.

Limit TV to 1 hour on school nights and 2 hours a day on weekends. Occasionally you may want to allow extra viewing time for special educational programs.

Be selective of the TV programs your children watch.

Choose programs for their moral and instructive value, not just for entertainment. Avoid programs that display disrespectful social relations or disharmonious parent-child relations. Co-view with your child and discuss the content of the programming.

Don't use TV as a distraction or a baby-sitter for preschool children.

Preschooler's viewing should be limited to special TV shows and occasional videotapes that are produced for young children. Because the difference between fantasy and reality is not clear for this age group, regular TV shows may cause fears.

If your child is doing poorly in school, limit TV time to 1 half hour each day.

Make a rule that your child must finish homework and chores before watching television. If your child's favorite show is on before the work can be done, consider recording the show for later viewing.

Set a bedtime for your child that is not altered by TV shows that interest your child.

Children who are allowed to stay up late to watch television are usually too tired the following day to remember what they were taught in school. By all means, do not permit your child to have a TV set in her bedroom because this eliminates your control over TV viewing and is associated with sleep problems, school dysfunction, and childhood.

Turn off the TV set during meals.

Family time is too precious to be squandered on TV shows. In addition, don't have the television always on as a background sound in your house. If you don't like a quiet house, try to listen to music without lyrics.