Methods To Reduce Your Teens TV Time

According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., today's youth in America spend 900 hours per year in a classroom but 1500 hours per year watching television. Also, according to William H. Deitz, prominent obesity expert at Tufts University School of Medicine, the easiest way to reduce inactivity is to turn off the TV set. Almost anything else uses more energy than watching TV.

Things to Do With or For Your Teen:

When you get rushed with things to do throughout the year, it’s your relationship with your children that suffers. Even when you take notice to the fact that you are over scheduled, it tends to be your teen’s need for your attention that is placed on the back burner.

At these times our teenagers are only likely to get attention by acting out- not good. This happens normally because teens become so capable of handling their own basic daily needs that we don’t notice we've stopped paying positive attention to them.

Here is a list that will help you remember and give you ideas of positive things to do with or for your teen. Enjoy!

1. Talk to your teen about his day.

2. Volunteer together.

3. Make your teen his favorite dinner.(Pizza in my home.)

4. Solve a problem by giving your teen the choice.

5. Root for your teen. Whether it’s a sports game or a big test, let your teen know you are on his side.

6. Take a glimpse into the future. What does your teen see? What do you see?

7. Talk to your teen about sex.

8. Talk to your teen about drugs.

9. Cook a meal together.

10. Write your teen a love note - it will perk up his self-esteem.

11. Develop a new healthy habit together.

12. Rearrange your teen’s room. (You may need to clean it first – warn him.)

13. Challenge your teen to a yearlong game marathon.

14. Plan the family vacation together.

15. Make your teen his favorite lunch.

16. Make your teen a hot breakfast before school.

17. Go for a walk or a hike.

18. Take a class together.

19. Hug him.

20. Buy a sponsorship in the yearbook and write something sweet.

21. Build or add to a family website together.

22. Plan a birthday party.

23. Watch a movie.

24. Do a puzzle and frame it.

25. Plant a garden in the backyard or a potted indoor garden.

26. Stay in your pajamas all day. (Perfect activity for a snow day.)

27. Have a movie marathon.

28. Have a picnic.

29. Go to a local historic museum.

30. Make your own t-shirts or sweatshirts.

31. Scrapbook or journal a day in your teen’s life.

32. Stargaze together.

33. Find shapes in the clouds together.

34. Go to the zoo.

35. Serve at a soup kitchen.

36. Make a time capsule.

37. Go bowling.

38. Go to a professional sports event or concert.

39. Make a video.

40. Make a pillow or quilt out of your old T-shirts and blankets.

41. Have a campfire and roast marshmallows.

42. Have a garage sale.

43. Write a letter to a grandparent about something wonderful your teen did.

44. Bake cookies.

45. Make the best ice cream sandwich ever.

46. Talk to your teen about college.

47. Talk to your teen about serving his country.

48. Order out at your teen’s favorite fast food joint.

49. Spend a day at the beach or a lake.

50. Read one of your teenager’s current magazines.