75ZT Community

I have been working in a reception class for 6 weeks...(don't ask... ) and today I learnt summat new..

That 10%?

In a class of 30 that is 3 kids...

3 kids aged 4 / 5 years old..

These 3 kids go to bed at 7.00pm after having a story with their parent/s / 'caregiver/s' (How I hate that term!)

The other 27 do not get a story...which in itself is a tragedy for all sorts of reasons...however, in this day and age not an unusual statistic...... except, perhaps for this. The other 90% of kids ALL have a Tv and DVD player in their bedrooms. When they go to bed at between 7-8pm they can watch a film. (children's hopefully but no guarantees!) Most of the children said they would watch until the end...up to 2 hours...so a 9pm bedtime....some claimed that they always fell asleep watching a film...none of them said that their parents would give them a time limit nor come come and check they were asleep.

So, 4-5 years old and they are in charge of their own viewing, they are in charge of their own sleep time, they have no one at home reading to them because technology is expected to provide their 'entertainment'....and then they come to school tired and unable to concentrate where they are expected to learn...

This is a very mixed catchment, kids from all walks of life and yet this seems to have become some sort of a 'norm'....am I worried? Somewhat yes!

No prob really Zeb..

If they watch enuff TV, they can all be cooks or estate agents when they grow up...innit...
...

Add to this the amount of under school age children that are sat in front of the TV from the moment they wake (to keep them quiet while mum gets on).
From this I gather that a great deal of children are already addicted to TV by the age of 3.Compounded by Zebs observations, I despair of what future generations will be capable of, very little IMNSHO

I was surprised at the high number of TV Stations transmitting at 6am aimed solely for Children.

JohnDotCom wrote:I was surprised at the high number of TV Stations transmitting at 6am aimed solely for Children.

Absolutely!
I also can't believe how many channels are aimed at children.
I tend to wake early, don't sleep much, and once I've seen the news through, there is only the 'Yesterday' channel, reception of which depends on the weather.
This kind of thing almost makes me glad that I no longer have any descendants to carry on when I'm gone. I despair at it all.

Mick wrote: I despair of what future generations will be capable of, very little IMNSHO

Too late, they are already coming out of the top of School, and indeed University like that.

'Course, there are some good programmes out there! But it is the lack of parental input / involvement / communication/ effort that is one of the worries as well as just what they are watching...as well as the impact of this 'lifestyle' on their education....oh dear....just depressed meself...

Perhaps by asking the question, one or two may ask for a story instead of TV and if the parents can make that time, it may make a difference. I certainly hope so.

How often have I, or one of my colleagues, made the suggestion that it is not the child in front of the Bench but his/her parent(s) that should be answering a charge

The seeds planted at the age you deal with Carl, are reaped some astonishingly few years later at anything from 10 years old onwards.

Mere babes with a far greater sense of, and weight of, responsibility than their feckless parent(s)

Mick....we can only hope so...

Paul...what you say is sadly so true...

My current role? As a one to one for a five year old with anger management / aggression issues.
A lovely little boy who struggles to deal with the word 'no' because he has not grown up hearing it.
Parents not entirely to blame, they have had difficult things to deal with...but it is little matey and his class who were reaping the consequences.

I got the impression that far too much parents aren't capable of educating their children anymore. They seem to think that all of it is the job of the teachers. So they fail miserably. And the society have to cope with the consequences.

I don't think this is a new problem. It is, as with most of societies problems, something that we have slipped into as a whole.

Society has become more and more dependant on all kinds of things, we are force fed products that are designed to make our lives easier etc, the Media is pumping out programs 24 / 7 and then unlike the "old days" both parents are now forced to work, unless one parent is on a very good wage (stepping away from teh whole Benefits argument on this one)

Growing up, I recall my Mother would spend her afternoon prepping "real food" for that evenings Meal, nowadays we have microwaveable junk, ready prepped boxed foods etc. All this has brought about a "lazy" society. Though, we as a Family do not eat junk food, 99% of everything we eat is fresh produce, with the exception of treat night - which will be a Pizza or Chippy meal.

Sitting in front of the TV is the norm for most adults and then this is passed on to the kids.

Also, where would you stop the blame, generations of parents are taught by their parents, if not directly then indirectly. We all become a part of who our parents where, so to speak.

As for the Education side of things, we read with our Son every night, he brings home a book from school and we will sit and read with him. We try and help his handwriting skills by printing off the alphabet and getting him to "write over" the letters etc. We don't always do story time at Bedtime, but what we do is have "dream time" where we make up a story for him to dream about while he is asleep. Much more fun