by A. South

Created on: January 05, 2009

The image of the typical family spending a quiet evening at home has migrated from scenes of mom, dad and kids at the dinner table to a family scattered around the house glued the television. The manner of spending time watching television has even changed. At one time, the television was in the family room and everyone would watch a show or movie together. Now, there are multiple televisions in multiple rooms of the house. A TV in the family room, a TV in kids' bedrooms, the office, even the kitchen.

Television isn't inherently bad, but consider the place of television in your life. If television is a priority and relationships (especially family relationships) are falling to the wayside, you may want to re-consider the culture of television in your life.

First, here are a few statistics about television in the United States from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The study focused on television and children ages six and under, exposing the future of television consumption in the United States.

Research revealed that children ages six and under spend approximately two hours a day in front of some sort of screen the computer, television, video games, etc.

One in four children under the age of two have a television in their bedroom and on most days 68 percent of children under two use some type of on-screen media for an average of more than two hours.

Televisions are on at least half of the time in 65 percent of homes with children six and under.

Almost half of children six and under have experience using a computer and a little under a third have used video games.

The effects of so much television consumption is not yet known. The impact on a child's development and a family's relationship or even ability to form and maintain relationships may not be known for years.

The best indicator of the impact of television on your life and your family is your own best judgment. Consider your family. Think of how they spend their time and how they spend their time together. If the majority is consumed by time in front of the television, it might be time to restrict on-screen media or even remove televisions from some rooms of the house.

Don't just take away televisions though. Give your family other options. Play a sport, a game, go outside or take a hike. Organize family events. You might meet initial resistance, but eventually family time will be as addictive as their favorite television show.

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