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June 16, 2009

Summer TV viewing spikes

kids tv

It's Tuesday, so here's Liz Atwood

My middle schooler had been out of school on summer break less than two hours on Friday when he called me and asked for the TV code that I had put in place to keep him from watching too much television. "You can't say I have to do my homework now," he argued.

The Smart Television Alliance, a group working to improve what kids watch on TV, reports that kids TV viewership jumps 150 percent during the summer months. This year, with tight family budgets meaning fewer trips and kids' camps, the group expects more kids will be vegging out in front of the TV.

The organization's Web site, smarttelevisionalliance.org, offers tips for how to take control of the TV and suggests good programs for the kids to watch.

What's your solution to summer TV sloth?

Photo by David Hobby, Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Liz Atwood at 6:00 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Teens
        

Comments

No TV until at least one hour of reading is completed each day. That's what one fellow middle school mom told me and I think it's a great idea. I might go even further and say, one hour of TV for each hour of reading, so long as you go outside and run around or swim or bike every day also.

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About Kate Shatzkin
Kate Shatzkin is the parenting and families content editor at The Baltimore Sun and, before that, was its family beat reporter. But her most challenging and rewarding job is being mother to Leah, 8, and Sam, 6.

In her 14 years at The Baltimore Sun, Kate also has covered nonprofit organizations, prisons and courts, and has written several investigative series. She was previously a Knight journalism fellow at Yale Law School and a reporter at the Seattle Times and at the Patriot-Ledger of Quincy, Mass. She lives in Baltimore with her family.

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