How much TV watching is enough for a child ? this is a common question these days. The answer may lie in asking - if the entertainment is purposeful or purposeless.
Typically, the child starts watching a program on TV (say Tom & Jerry). Every 15 minutes there are very compulsive ads targeted for children. After a while the child is mainly watching the Ads and not the story. When the Ads get repetitive, the child changes channels to something else. What was the original purpose of watching Tom & Jerry ? What happened to the story ? How did it end ? The purpose of watching TV is lost after a while.
There are many ways to make any entertainment purposeful. Ask a child to narrate the story at dinner time, discuss the reaction of characters. Ask them to play it out. Why was the program funny or sad ? Can you write about this in a letter to grand-mother ? Can you draw a picture on the story ? How would the story end if you change the plot ?
You are creating a purpose for that entertainment when you ask such questions or weave it into an activity. You make it a worth-while and learning experience for a child by doing so. By assigning some purpose we make it more enjoyable, not less. We make child an active part of that experience.
There is not much difference between watching TV this way and doing studies. We need to bring in purpose to our entertainment and some amount of entertainment in our studies. Both should be a 'purposeful enjoyment'.
So, how much TV is enough for a child depends on How much of it you can make purposeful.
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