How to Break a Teen of Watching Cartoons

It probably won't shock you to learn that teen obesity rates would decrease if we got kids to eat less fast food, drink fewer soft drinks and watch less TV. According to Harvard School of Public Health research, not only does watching a lot of TV make kids less active, all the associated advertising can lead them to consume more calories. And cartoons are not necessarily kid-friendly. The Internet and many TV stations offer countless cartoons portraying violence -- something that can influence the development of violent behavior and desensitization to violence. Even if teens are watching the soft and fuzzy type, there are probably better things they could be doing with their time.

Instructions

    • 1

      Limit "screen time" for your teen. Have a conversation about how much time he thinks is appropriate for daily Internet and TV usage and then compromise on a limit. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than two hours of quality screen time per day for children and teens. By limiting his TV time, he may opt to spend more time doing constructive activities.

    • 2

      Create "screen-free" areas in your home, suggests the American Academy of Pediatrics. If there is a TV in your teen's bedroom, take it out. This can help you keep better tabs on what your teen is watching and allow you to have a conversation with him if you see him watching something you consider inappropriate. If you're having trouble managing your teen's screen time, consider changing your wireless password or setting blackout hours on your Internet or cable systems.

    • 3

      Require a certain amount of reading every night. Reading is important for building vocabulary and developing literacy. According to the Young Adult Library Services Association, a teen can read about another 31,500 words per week by reading for 15 minutes every day. By the time someone reads 100,000 words, he will have expanded his vocabulary by 50 percent.

    • 4

      Encourage your teen to do extra-curricular activities. If you think your child is watching too many cartoons, the reason for this could be that he has run out of things to do. Such activities don't have to necessarily involve sports. Tell your teen that you'll help him fund any healthy activity he chooses to do, such as theater, dance, a book club or study group.

    • 5

      Pick out other things for your teen to watch or pick movies together -- online or at the library or movie rental store. If you're really having trouble with the cartoons, you'll have to wean your teen off slowly. Agree to compromise. Let him pick one movie -- cartoon or not -- and then you pick two.

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