Television and Games Consoles Policy

Rationale

We believe that watching television in certain conditions can aid young children’s attention, comprehension and vocabulary. Research has shown that having a television on as background noise can be detrimental to a child’s play and concentration and reduce the learning of new vocabulary. We believe that the use of games consoles can help to develop skills such as hand-eye co-ordination and turn taking. However we feel that these should be limited in order to encourage children to participate in a wide variety of experiences, which help build their all-round development. We aim to use the use of television and games consoles carefully to ensure that children’s learning is aided and not compromised.

Procedure

We will ensure that programmes available to children are suitable for their age and stage of development and will discuss with parents/carers their wishes for the programmes and DVD’s they are happy for their child to view. Children are welcome to bring in DVD’s from home, but we request that this is discussed with us beforehand to ensure that the content will be suitable for other children attending and that the DVD is brought on a day when our routines will allow time to watch it.

We aim to always watch television with young children so that we can talk about the programme afterwards and we can model any new vocabulary gained. Viewing time is limited and the television is switched off as soon as the programme is finished or when children lose interest.

Children will be permitted to use games a console providing the game is intended for their age. We will work with parents/carers to set realistic time scales for the use of games consoles. If children wish to bring in consoles or games from home, we request this is discussed with us beforehand. This will ensure the content will be suitable for other children attending and brought on a day when our routines will allow time to play it.

A very small percentage of people may experience photosensitive epileptic seizures when exposed to certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns that may appear in video games. If a child is vulnerable to these seizures then such media will not be watched/played with whilst this child in present.