How to manage Television watching in your home

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Watching TV at home should be entertaining and relaxing for children and grownups in the house but it has become a source of conflict for many families in Nairobi today.
Parents go to extent of banning TV watching in the home, which is just but a temporally solution. Managing time set for TV watching in your house will assist you and your family live harmoniously. Take control of what your children should and should not watch, define the time that your children should spend on TV everyday,
The following points will assist a parent take control of TV viewing in his or her home
Take control of your family's viewing habits by using some of these strategies:

    Let your children know what material you allow them to watch and what you do not allow them at a tender age. Most parents will attest that it is wise to develop good TV viewing habits well before your children start school. It is easy for a parent to enforce restrictions or influence his or her children taste and preference when they are small. You can never bend a grown tree, the same way one can never impact discipline on a grown kid. 
    Emphasize on limiting time spent by your kids watching TV especially during school nights.  Let them have other involving activities away from TV. Encourage them to involve in activities like sports, hobbies and ones they can play outside the house.
    Avail yourself to supervise what your children watch, each time possible watch with them, and discuss the program.
    Juvenile kids are at higher risk of becoming aggressive after watching violence on TV especially comics and tele-toons. As a parent, you should limit the amount of violence exposed to the children and monitor their behaviour after watching violent shows.
    The best role model for kids is their parents, scrutinize your TV watching habits if need be change.
     Promote documentary programs like, sports, nature and science shows, the arts, music and history shows. There is a lot of great TV programming out there that makes learning about the world interesting and fun.
    Never put television in your child’s bedroom. It might look classy but you will be influencing bad TV watching habits and you cannot control what they watch in their locked rooms. Keep the TV in a room away from where your family spends most of its time. You can change, as your children grow older.
    Switch off the TV if you are not watching, turn it on for specific shows and turn it off when the show is over, this way your children will have something to look forward to.
    Restrict what your children and their friends watch in your house, do not be afraid to let them know your restrict programmes that are not appropriate for children viewing. It is your responsibility as a parent to safeguard your children from too much exposure regardless of who will hate you in the process. 
    Ensure that your children understand the reason why some programes are not appropriate and know that they have a right to say no to them if they visit friends and relatives who watch them.
    The caretaker or househelp should understand and must follow your TV  rules.
    Give up TV watching for a week or so to evaluate what impact it has to your children.
Happy TV watching