We actually do not have set limits on screen time in our house, and there is a LOT of it.  It's something that is fluid, however - there is obviously a lot more screen time on stormy indoor weekends than there is on sunny summer days.  Because of work schedules and behavorial issues, we are not family that sticks to a rigorous schedule on ANYTHING. There may be days where the kids come home and just hang out and read and there is no computer or television at all.  There may be days when they spend every waking minute bouncing between playing RockBand on the Wii or watching movies or playing on the computer.  

I know this point is brought up in this type of discussion a lot, but I don't think it's as simple as "how much," either - it's also a matter of "what" they are doing with their screen time.  Playing vocabulary games on "Freerice.com" is different from watching "America's Funniest Home Videos," you know?

We have two-ish hours per day (morning, afternoon, no evening). Game/computer time is earned right now so it's infrequent. (My younger son doesn't have game/computer time just yet at all as his 2nd birthday is right around the corner. Shortly though.) We also have no-TV/media days in our house.

Works for us. :)

@FireMom from Stop, Drop and Blog and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land

My five-year-old watches a half-hour each weekday morning while we get ready for work and has Friday Night Movie Night and Saturday Morning Cartoon Morning pretty much every week. We usually watch the movies with her, and everything else is limited to Discovery Kids, Disney and Noggin. I like Noggin the best because there aren't commercials, but she's starting to outgrow it. I sort of miss the moose.

We also watch the first two seasons of The Muppet Show on DVD a lot, and The Wizard of Oz. The television of my youth was messed up, man.

Rita Arens writes at Surrender Dorothy and BlogHer and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak.

Each child has gotten a different level of screen time when young. Almost 16 yo boy got nearly NONE until he was four or five. 14 got a little more. 11 yo-um yeah, well, about that. She wasn't a napper or a good sleeper. I had three under five.  I was busy and tired. She loved Barney and Teletubbies. Then Scooby. (Note: she is the least odd of my children and the one who has been consistently the best student)

As they have gotten older-we had various policies in place for tv but there were times when they watched far more. None of them are currently big tv watchers-Buffy dvds. Gilmore Girls dvds. They will watch Survivor with us. They watched American Idol at the other house-well the girls did. My youngest will sit with my mother now and half watch HGTV with her on a weekend afternoon while reading/playing with her DS.

Boy and I will sit and heckle CNN during major news events/debates/etc.

Computer/video game screen time is different. Older kids-no restrictions on computer time once they had their own. (We went through some years of "wait until I am done working") Younger kids-more restrictions on it but I tend to be fairly ok with their screen time online unless it is interfering with things like homework or family time. No set in stone rules. However, if you whine about going on a family outing or helping with something because you would rather be on the computer or playing DS-watch out-you may lose it.

Retro-Food.com

In our house, screens have always meant all screens: computers, ds, tv. And until now (my kids are 12, 11 and 8) there were absolutely no screens during the school week. This was a hard and fast rule unless there was a snow day, you were home sick or something truly bizarre happened. And it was HARD. As a SAHM whose husband travelled for work when the kids were really young and who now works insane hours, I on my own with the kids all the time. But, as a result, I have 3 bookworms who know how to build amazing forts in the woods and I have the stamina to listen to "I'm bored" til my kids are blue in the face.

But recently, one of my kids has suffered a serious episode of anxiety and depression. One of the triggers for the anxiety is perfectionism with homework. His therapist suggested rewarding him for only working on his homework for an hour and a half early in the night by letting him chill out watching tv for the rest of the night. WHAT?! Well, along with therapy, medication and a LOT of hard work, my son is on the mend.  And dangling the carrot of a few hours of zoning out on the couch watching the boob tube doesn't seem to be hurting either. Of course, I can't let one child watch while I don't let two others in our small little house. So there goes 12 years of parenting down the drain! Go figure!

I guess the lesson for me is to be watchful about screen time especially during the developmental years....but be flexible. It can be for kids just what it is for us...an entertaining escape and stress reliever.

Always a... Willful Woman @ www.besidethestonewall.com Visitors always welcome! Bring your stories to share!

Living in the desert during the summer and have limited funds for going out, my two toddlers do have a little more range on the television. That being said, I make sure that they watch programming that will stimulate the mind, such as PBS, Disney Channel, and a handful of Nick Jr. shows. They get a couple of hours in the morning, lunch and nap (Typical schedule). I also play with them and encourage them to share with me what they learned from the show. At this age, I would rather they watch educational programming than fight or do anything disruptive.

Some programming backs up what I'm trying to teach them, including numbers, letters, colors and shapes. They have a great imagination; I too learn some new ways to teach them.

-Mary-
A Student for Life

I grew up in a home with strict rules about limitations on TV time, and quite frankly, I've never "gotten it". Maybe I've just been lucky. I've never limited the amout of TV my kids can watch, and it's never become a problem. They tend to get bored and wander off to do other things. Right now (on a late Sunday morning, after a very busy Saturday) I rented my Daughter a movie (per her request), but she is in the living room with me drawing pictures and writing stories.

We participate in sports, social activities and love to be outside, but we value "down time" equally. Down time often includes the TV. Maybe because it is not a "forbidden fruit" the kids don't enjoy it as much? My (now 18 year old) son has never been too interested in TV, although he used to love nature shows. As he got older, every spare minute he would be outside doing some activity or another. He would avoid homework to go outside. Sometimes we would encourage him to watch TV to keep him inside to help heal a sunburn as he would often forget to reapply sunscreen! He is now a very passionate nature photographer.

My daughter admittedly watches more TV, but it is often background to her drawing. She gobbles up her homework and books. She gets great grades, excels in sports and loves animals.

Somehow, they seem to balance their TV time well on their own.  ????? :)