Boob Tube

We have a fairly sharp policy when it comes to media: the less, the better. No Nintendo DS nor Xbox; no boob tubes in the kids' rooms (only one household television); one family computer which the kids use in the kitchen in the presence of an adult. Eitan and Madeleine have 'movie night' Thursdays and one-hour of cartoons Sunday mornings though relaxed around football, which Eitan cannot get enough of (+I enjoy watching with him). Madeleine gets her extra share, too, do not worry Dear Reader. The one exception radio : I have no problem with the wireless which, at least, exercises some imagination. They also go for CD boxsets of Hairy Potter or whatever (I sometimes find one or the other sound asleep with the player going). Sonnet and I figure the Shakespeares will spend half their waking life Facebooking and Twittering . . no need to rush them online when they should be reading and playing in dirt.

For the record, the British Market Research Bureau reports that Britain's children spend four-and-a-half hours a day in front of a TV or computer - one hour 50 minutes online and two hours 40 minutes in front of the television. It found that children spend more time in front of a screen in one day than they spend exercising in the entire week. 97 per cent of 11 to 16-year-olds own a mobile phone – eight per cent more than the percentage of adults who own one.