TV Watching

Control TV watching Children 

1. Get the TV out of the Bedroom

Having a TV in the bedroom may keep your kids quiet, but you lose control over what and how much they watch. A recent study found that children who had a TV in their bedroom watched more TV and performed worse in school tests.

If your child already has a TV in their bedroom, you may have a job on your hands to get it out. We recommend that you just remove the TV and explain your reasons to your child. Be prepared for protests, but remember that you are acting in the best interests of your child, and that you are the boss.

2. Don’t have the TV on in the Background

If no-one’s watching it, turn the telly off! TV has an amazing effect on us. We instinctively pay attention to moving images, so when a television is on it is difficult to concentrate on other things. Remember, the “off” button is there for a reason.

3. Don’t Allow Unsupervised Access

Do you really know what the kids are watching? Many studies have shown that children can be exposed to violent and sexual imagery that is inappropriate for their age. Keep track of what your kids are watching, and avoid having loads of TV sets around the house.

4. Agree Programmes

Buy a TV guide, and agree in advance which programmes your children will watch. This won’t take long, and will save your children from hours of zombie-like channel surfing. Most Sunday newspapers have a weekly TV guide included. Set rules for acceptable programmes together, and develop a list of programmes to be watched.

5. Agree TV Time

Agree with your children how much time the family will spend watching TV during the week. Remember to be firm during the negotiations. Your kids need to know that you are the boss – much easier with younger children.

If your children are massive telly addicts, you will need to reduce their screen time gradually. The most important thing for telly addicts is to replace TV time with something else, so you might need to think about active hobbies for your kids.

6. Assess the Situation

Keep a TV log for a week, and work out how much time you and your children spend in front of the box. Just write down the number of hours of TV you’ve watched – you may find this surprising.

7. Record Programmes

Record movies and programmes that you like, and watch them at convenient times. This can help to minimise the effect that TV has on your family’s sleeping and eating patterns.

8. Discuss the Plan

Explain to your children the reason why too much TV is a bad idea, and get their opinions. This is crucial, since you want your children to develop good TV habits that they will take with them into adulthood. Don’t be too dictatorial, and explain your actions. Your children will get into the habit of being discerning viewers.

You’re the boss, and you need to take a lead, but you have to bring your children with you. If your children are very young, this will not be a problem – they will just accept your rules as being normal.

9. Encourage Rebellion

Your kids are going to rebel against something so why not make this rebellion a positive process? Point out to your child or young adult that the TV keeps them passive and under control. Your children probably won’t like the idea of being passive zombies controlled by others.

10. Cut the Cable

get rid of the dish. Why not get rid of your satellite TV and with the money you save, rent the odd movie that you’re really keen on? You’ll be able to watch your movie at a more convenient time, you won’t be bombarded with adverts, and you will probably save money.

11. TV Dinners 

Don’t eat in front of the telly! When you are looking at the box, you find it harder to keep track of how full you are. For this reason people tend to overeat when they are watching television.

When children routinely eat meals in front of the TV they are more likely to become overweight. The odd bit of popcorn during a movie is OK, but in general don’t let your family eat meals in front of the TV.

12. Keep Perspective

You don’t have to ditch the TV completely, although believe it or not some people take this option and live perfectly normal lives. TV isn’t all bad…you can see great movies, there are fantastic educational documentaries, and there are great comedy and entertainment shows. Just make sure that you control the TV, and the TV doesn’t control you


thanks

Mutism in Children

Selective Mutism  in Children

Children and adults with selective mutism are fully capable of speech and understanding language but fail to speak in certain situations, though speech is expected of them. The behaviour may be perceived as shyness or rudeness by others. A child with selective mutism may be completely silent at school for years but speak quite freely or even excessively at home. 

Selective mutism is  characterized by the following ways:

 Consistent failure to speak in specific social situations (in which there is an expectation for speaking, e.g., at school) despite speaking in other situations.
 The disturbance interferes with educational or occupational achievement or with social communication.
 The duration of the disturbance is at least 1 month (not limited to the first month of school).
 The failure to speak is not due to a lack of knowledge of, or comfort with, the spoken language required in the social situation.
 The disturbance is not better accounted for by a communication disorder (e.g., stuttering) and does not occur exclusively during the course of a pervasive developmental disorder,schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorder. Shyness, social anxiety, fear of social embarrassment, and/or social isolation and withdrawal
 Difficulty maintaining eye contact
 Blank expression and reluctance to smile
 Stiff and awkward movements
 Difficulty expressing feelings, even to family members
 Tendency to worry more than most people of the same age
 Desire for routine and dislike of changes
 Sensitivity to noise and crowds
 Moodiness
 Sleep problems, Adjustment Problem 

Selective mutism is not a communications disorder and is not part of a developmental disorder. By definition, selective mutism does not include children with conduct disorders, oppositional/defiant behavior, and/or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The principal problem in children with selective mutism appears to be anxiety. This anxiety (which causes avoidance) seems closest to the definition of social anxiety disorder (social phobia). Indeed, most adults with social anxiety disorder relate strongly and can fully understand selective mutism, even though they themselves were not necessarily children with selective mutism.

Do's and Don'ts for Parents Treating your Selectively Mute Child
• Do learn what “enabling” is.
• Do not ask your child if he or she is going to speak in a given situation.
• Do learn a methodology of “empowering” your child’s potential and initiative.
• Do not continue “enabling” your child’s “addiction to the avoidance of speaking”.
• Do learn to employ a “matter of fact” set of expectations for your child that will facilitate the process of trying to talk.
• Do not show anger when your child is not talking.
• Do learn to be on the same “team” with parenting technique.
• Do not plead with your child to talk.

• Do attentively and patiently listen when your child is attempting to communicate.
• Do not reward your child for talking.
• Do learn to extract thoughts and feelings regarding fear from your child.
• Do not impatiently finish your child’s sentences or encourage over-dependence.
• Do learn to advocate on behalf of your child with school.
Hypnosis is also very useful in these type of problems. 
Thank

Dr.Shweta singh

    Guest Lecturer,

   Dpt. of Applied Psychology,

   V.B.S.Purvanchal University

   Jaunpur,U.P.,INDIA 

     mail- shweta_opsingh@rediffmail.com

Mobile Addiction

Side Effect Of Internet, Face Book, Mobile Addiction

1. Concentration Level Poor.
2. Poor Subject Interest.
3. Poor Subject Knowledge.
4. Headache .
5. Eye Sight Week.
6. Isolation.
7. Less Interaction with Family.
8. Stress.
9. Out of Touch in Outside (home area).
10. Irritation and Aggression
11. Acidity.
12. Obesity.                                                                                               give your comment to childpsychologist----------------------nammsays@gmail.com

    If you’re worried that your child may be suffering with a Mobile Addiction , it’s time to make an appointment  at Hello Psychologist Child Development Centre Lucknow INDIA.

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