Kids Watch TV As Parents Do, Not As They Say

Do you limit how much television your children can watch, but then let yourself watch as much as you want? “If the parents watch TV in their free time, the kids are being socialized to watch TV in their free time,” says senior research scientist Amy Bleakley, who led a recent study by the Annenberg Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The study found that children watched 23 minutes of TV for every hour their parents watched, showing that actions speak louder than words when it comes to this pastime. Parents should limit their children’s screen time to two hours a day, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. However, if you're going to set these kinds of guidelines for your children’s TV time, you might want to hold yourself to the same rules.

NPR, 7/15/13