Watch TV With Your Kid

Hi,

Please find time to watch TV with your kid and be involved with what they are watching.

What do I mean by that?

Sitting next to your kid while he is watchng TV and you are doing something else is a NO..NO..!

To be involved means to watch it with him and be able to discuss about what both of you are watching.

Why?

Firstly, you may want to censor or control what he is watching. Eg. I would tell Jason that this is could be a scary movie and that it was not suitable for him though we did watched a few episodes of X-Files...!

Secondly, you would want to explain to him that some of the action that he is watching are not real but stunts. Eg. Superman flying in the sky or Spiderman jumping all over so that he would not try to imitate the acts.

Thirdly, you should also explain or discuss the lessons that could be learned from the shows. Eg. the sense of friendship or loyalty as shown on the TV.

So if you find the time and watch TV with your children, you can make it into a learning experience with them besides laying the foundation or principles that you want them to internalize.

Of course, do not 'kill' the thrill of sheer entertainment by always putting forth some values in life or making watching TV into a teaching affair as your kids would 'shoo' you off ...ha..ha...

I watched cartoons, children programmes ( no matter how silly it may seems to us, adults! ) and even programmes like WWE or World Wrestling Entertainment..!

For eg., while watching WWE with Jason, I told him that it is all fake because if I really punch a person like what he saw on TV, it is unlikely that the person could stand up that soon. It is all glamorous stuff on TV.

Luckily, we happened to see a documentary on how they recruited and trained wrestlers on TV and he was convinced by what I said. In fact, it was an eye-opener to both of us...to be honest! After that, we lost interest in watching WWE.

However, we would wrestle in bed almost every evening at one stage and we really have fun and bonding was definitely established. We did moves like those we saw on TV like The Rock...... BUT I told him this is all play and not to play like that with his friends. He was around 4 years old then..!

BTW, we saw the WWE in our Indoor Stadium when they were in town and it was a fantastic experience for both of us! He was a few years older by then, around 6 or 7 years old.

Today, we still watch TV together.....eg. we would watch Channel 8 9pm serial and discuss about the various roles in the show.... and partly, to improve our Mandarin too.

Ocassionally, we still go to the movies together if his friends have seen them without him for whatever reasons.

So my tip to parents is that you must be engaged with them when watching TV with your kids and take the opportunity to share your values with them or solicit their thoughts too.

BTW, Jason & I watch EPL soccer games during the weekends and we are Manchester United (MU) supporters...! Here we are in MU jerseys taken on his 14th birthday.





Happy parenting!



David