10 Essential criteria for children to learn to watch television

Television can be a real enemy that attacks less critical minds, an entity that delves into the brains of children and manipulates them at will, introduces wrong values, inappropriate words and above all, distorts reality. However, if we know how to use it, we can find in it a great ally to educate

However, if we know how to use it, we can find in it a great ally to educate our children, create criticism, opinions, debates, and open their imagination to new worlds, cultures and beliefs. Parents have the responsibility to teach our children to watch television and create in them a critical sense that they can put into practice whenever they take over the control of TV.

10 tips for our children to learn to watch television

1- You never have to watch what you put on television, but choose the program that we will see in advance. We must avoid zapping, moving from one channel to another without meaning, but we must select a program of real interest for the child.

2- Never have the television on if nobody is watching it. The television company must be replaced by our mutual family company or by silence, with this, in addition to saving money and energy, we gain peace and time for our family.

3- The king of the hand should not be the oldest, the strongest or the first to arrive, but the programs should be chosen by consensus of all, or in turn, but always respecting the opinion of all family members, however small they may be.

4- Never have a television in the children's room ya, as we must remember that television encourages the isolation of family life, and is addictive.5- It is convenient to previously agree on a

television schedule or a few days a week as if it were a family event, without filling all the free spaces that the children or ourselves have. You have to have time for play, friendship, dialogue, reading, creativity and, of course, television. 6-

Never use it as a babysitter . It is inevitable that when we are busy and we do not want our children to bother, we turn on the television. It is better not to do it, but if there is no other choice, then let's do it with a critical sense and put on some cultural program, or some movie in English that, in addition to distracting, can also learn something from it.7-

Never turn it on at lunch or dinner as a family . These moments are perfect for dialogue and we should not lose them looking at a screen. It is time to ask ourselves how the day has gone.8- Remember that our children will imitate what they see on television, so let's try that

they do not see wrong characters or values for their age. The best thing is to always sit down with them to watch television in order to teach our children to create criteria about what they are seeing and explain about certain confusing situations for them. 9- They should not see

malice, violence, sexuality too explicit for their age, delinquency, racism, etc ... 10-

Beware of ads, some can be more harmful than the programs , and tend to be more shocking for minors, since their messages are concise, short and carry catchy slogans. In them they will learn to be materialistic, removing the real values of life and replacing them with other voids of content and harmful to health such as thin and muscular stereotypes in excess or fat and sugary food ...Finally, it is important to remember that it should not be used as a reward or punishment, and above all, that we should teach to develop a critical attitude towards it.