Your thoughts

[JCrakers]

Hi,

I had an enquiry from a family with a 3yr old boy a couple of weeks ago, I didnt take them on as they wanted care until 7pm and I only work until 6pm.

Anyway....they dont have a TV at home and didnt want their little one watching any TV..Fair enough..each to their own :D (I couldnt manage the week out without my eastenders fix)

I don't have the TV a lot with the kids and usually dont have it on at all until 4pm when the afterschoolies come in. They want to sit and chillax...
If I put it on in the day its nice for the little ones to have a rest and a bit of cbeebies. My daughter (8) and Son (12) have it on too after school and usually 1/2 before school.

They were expecting me to not have the TV on to suit their son...which I thought was going to be very difficult for me and everyone else who likes watching it.

Would you have agreed to their needs or said 'My house...My rules' ?? ;)

Just interested as it was quite a strange request
Becky x

[Rain or Shine]

Your duty as a childminder is to put the needs of the children you already care for first.
I would explain that the older children enjoy a small amount of time relaxing and watching tv after school and its a routine that works for you and the children.

[Erika]

Personally, I'd have said that it would be possible to limit their viewing but not to eliminate it completely because you have other mindees to consider, who do like to watch a bit of telly in the afternoon. Add into that, that you are unable to seperate them because that would mean the tele watchers would be unsupervised and you cannot put any of the children in a position of being unsupervised, as the TV is not a substitution for supervison.

ETA: A childminder with 5 different children from five different families (as an example) could not possibly work if all the families wanted different things for their children. They have to be prepared to compromise and accept that there are far worse things in this life than a bit of TV.

I think they are being unreasonable if they expect you to sacrifice the wishes of all your current mindees, all of the time, to suit their preferences. They've got to meet you somewhere in the middle.

[sarah707]

I have 2 rooms - the children who want to watch TV go in and watch and the others play elsewhere.

Sometimes I am asked by parents to follow up on a home TV ban and I support children to play elsewhere while it is on for others.

I find that very very hard and they always get so upset.

If a parent asked for no TV in the evening I would be concerned because my own children are home and want to watch.

At the end of the day while I aim to support parents, I also need to make sure my family are not inconvenienced or made to feel they have to sit in their rooms because of a parents' request.

I think you made the right decision for you x

[ChocolateChip]

I wouldn't have agreed with that for all the reasons already stated, supervision, trying to please too many people, needs of other children and family, etc.
I can sympathise with the parents if that is their choice of lifestyle, I believe that in some ways technology has taken over our lives whether we like it or not, but I think they will struggle to find somewhere that never has tv, I know several day nurseries where they have it on sometimes.
Even school whack a dvd on the smartboard every now and then, especially at this time of year.
I'm curious now, is it the whole tv thing they don't like, or do they allow dvd's?

[miffy]

I wouldn't be able to agree to that even though we don't have the TV on that much, this is my home and I make the decisions on what is allowed not one parent.

The parents might find it easier if they had someone come to their house to care for the child.

Miffy xx

[buildingblocks]

I completely agree with what everyone else has said.

But I also don't think I would have a problem with the parents request but this is because most days we don't have the TV on anyway so it wouldn't be a problem for me not to have it on and I would quite happily get rid of it (even though I am a TV addict myself).

But I am of the same opinion as everyone else that it would my choice and not a parent dictating to me so I guess once again I am sitting on that fence.

[Penny1959]

Guring my previous registration I had a family that I took on who had this request. I took them on and we agreed that I would support the children to play in the other room BUT I would not physically stop them entering the TV room. I told the parents that it was up to them to explain to their children why they don't want them to watch TV.

Have to say it worked well - their children did wander into the TV room sometimes but not often and because not familiar with the programmes did not really want to watch and once seen what others doing would wander back out of room.

Over time we did reach a compromise over a few TV programmes and some DVD's.

Since re registering I personally have different views about TV and is only on occasionally - not every day - and if it is on - just for 30mins after lunch at 'rest / nap' time and for the last 30 minsof day after we have tidyied up - so 5.30 - 6 pm. So if a parent requested no TV now - it should be easy to fit in with our rountines.

If wondering about children in my care who used to watching TV at home - yes I have 3 - one under 5 and two schoolies - all are happy to play - and have never complained about not watching TV at mine.


Penny :)


Penny :)

[mushpea]

I have the living room with the tv in and then the conservatory attached to the living room with toys in, the toys do come in the living room but we have the rule that if the tvs on they either sit nicley and watch it in the living room or they play in the conservatory or they can do drawing at the table,,, if a child is banned from tv then they either play or sit in the dinning room drawing,,,
we dont have the tv on duing the the day as the little ones dont tend to watch it due to the fact its on in their house all the time and they use it as background noise so carry on playing, when the older ones do this i just turn it off cause i cant see the point of the tv if your not watching it,,, the older ones have a choice of the tv or wii in the evenings and as i have a few schoolies they have half hour of what ever they choose each.
i would have told the parents all this and explained that i could not have a tv free enviroment to suit one childs needs as its unfair on the older ones when they need chill out time after school.