Working Mum - Switch it off!

‘It's even bigger than nursery's screen!’ my three-year-old exclaimed when I took her to the cinema for the first time. Ironically, my friend has dubbed it ‘cinema time’ when she drops her daughter into nursery before lunch. She says that the lights are often dimmed and the children are staring at programmes being projected onto the pre-school room wall.

She enquired what television the children are viewing and was assured that it is all ‘educational’, such as Numberjacks, and sometimes they use the projector to show the children movements to new songs. Among ourselves, we’ve joked that the staff and children are all in on the ‘great TV conspiracy’. They talk openly about the educational stuff but seem to have a good understanding of programmes such as Disney Club.

One morning my daughter was upset to be dropped off at nursery. To cheer her up, her key person first suggested colouring together, then quickly changed this to playing a game on her tablet and asked which one – the one with princesses? It was obviously not a rare occurrence. I suppose this is learning about ICT and involves interaction, not just staring blankly at a TV screen.

I have to question whether there is a place for TV in the nursery at all. I certainly don't think it should be a routine part of the day. I’m a mean mother who monitors and restricts my two daughters’ screen time and they regard it at home as a treat – the mentioned cinema visit was a first for my ‘deprived’ six-year-old.

I don't mind them occasionally winding down in front of CBeebies after a busy day, but I feel that putting the TV on at nursery is like lazy caring. Shouldn't they be playing and interacting with their friends, sharing books with staff or exploring resources rather than staring at a wall? I feel my daughter would learn a lot more about numeracy by playing at shops with her key person and peers rather than watching superhero numbers save the day.

Too scared to sleep

I’ve spoken to mothers at other settings who think that the TV is used when ratios are tight, such as when staff are tidying up after lunchtime. One mother I spoke to said that her son was too scared to sleep for a few days after watching a film at nursery. Others comment that they don't feel they should be paying nursery fees for their child to be entertained by the television. But there is also the opinion that they'd be watching some TV if they were at home and, in many cases, children can be in nursery from 8am to 6pm, which is a long time.

It didn't occur to me to ask about TV viewing when I looked around nurseries, although I did enquire when I visited childminders in their homes. Maybe I just didn't think that they would have a TV in a nursery. But I was aware early on that there was a limited amount of TV viewing during the nursery day and decided not to say anything – I didn't want my child to be taken into another room when everyone else was enjoying the TV. Now I think my daughter's nursery is getting increasingly reliant on it, certainly since buying a projector.

My youngest asks to watch TV much more than her sister. I don't know if this is simply a difference of personality or a reflection of how much she has viewed at nursery. I’m pleased that she will soon be leaving her day nursery to go to a school nursery, and hope that any TVs there will remain turned off.

A WORD OF ADVICE

There are other ways than the TV to free up staff time, says Emma Comer, managing director of Tall Trees Kindergarten in Frome

I have real sympathy for smaller nurseries that can't afford to pay supernumerary practitioners or hire extra staff for a few hours, and so rely on the television to free up staff time for other duties – writing up observations, sending emails, even cleaning. The free entitlement funding isn't enough and will only get worse without serious Government investment.

We are about to increase to 90 places, so as a large nursery are fortunate to be able to afford cleaners, lunchtime assistants and supernumerary staff. However, even we have had to find novel ways for staff to fit in paperwork, without going down the TV route. In fact, we have a no-screen policy.

One way that works well is to provide staff with iPads in waterproof covers, so they can squeeze in note-taking in moments when the children are playing more freely outdoors – rather than indoors, which generally requires more focused interactions with the children.

Our no-screen policy is for two main reasons: first, children are designed to move, to do and to sleep, and the longer they are in front of a screen, the less time they have to be active, motivated and exploring. Children learn by doing and through their senses, not through watching someone else on a screen. TV and computer programmes have their place in early learning but are no match for rich, hands-on experiences.

Our no-screen policy, along with our commitment to lots of physical activity for children, is also reassuring for our parents, who then feel less guilty if after a hard day's work they allow their children some TV time.

A nursery may soon find that its parents are not prepared to pay for their child to watch TV, but might pay a little bit more for a setting that is committed to ‘active learning’ and children's well-being.

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