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Watching films in school

re : Watching films in school           reply
07/02/2013 21:30 - Ask Mother Hen
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Hi,
I have to say i´m shocked myself at what´s happening there! You´re right, there seems to be no educational value to the TV they´re watching; it sounds like the tv is being used as a babysitter. Generally TV is watched at home in the evening well after school, homework and play, so kids should not be using up their daily tv quota in school. I think this is a serious issue, and needs to be raised with the teacher and the principal. Break times are precious times for social interactions, fresh air and physical movement after sitting at a desk - none of this is achieved if they´re sitting in front of the box. It just leads to them being overstimulated mentally and wound up! I´m interested to hear if many other parents are experiencing something similar? If you´re not happy about this, as you´re not, I´d encourage you to address it with the school.



Watching films in school           reply
06/02/2013 19:21 - Ask Mother Hen
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I´m really concerned about the amount of TV my son seems to be watching at school. In addition to going outside for their two breaks each day, they seem to get 15-45 minutes of screen time EVERY day. So far this year they have watched Ice Age, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, The Lion King, 5-7 other full length movies, and countless shorter programmes (Tom and Jerry, etc). I know that it´s mostly watched while eating snack/lunch, and I understand that it might be easier for the teacher to mind the children while they are watching, but I´m finding it hard to see how this benefits my son in any educational way when all the research coming out points to the harmful effects of TV viewing. He is only in school for about 5 hours as it is- surely there is better use of this precious time? I also worry about the content of some of the films, as my son is only in the Infants class and gets quite scared at times. I did send in a short friendly note recently just to let the teacher know that a certain film frightened my child, and if possible, not to watch it while he was in the room, but the teacher put it on two days later while he was in the room anyway. :-( Is it common to watch so much TV in school? Am I over-reacting? What’s the best way to talk to his teacher about my concerns without turning into “that menacing parent?” Any advice would be greatly appreciated.




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