My son watches too much TV, what should I do?

My 13-year-old son loves spending time in front of the television. As long as he is awake you can be sure he will be seated watching without blinking? I am starting to think that he may adopt a passive lifestyle because of spending hours just sitting and staring at a screen. What should I do about this? Daniel, KibugaDear Daniel, you need to understand that we live in a world where our kids are exposed to so much in terms of TV, radio or the internet. This abundance of media can offer a wonderful new world of excitement and discovery for children. But it can also open up an undesirable world of negative, harmful messages your child may not be ready to handle. Below are some of the few things you can do to help your child better from continuing with this passive addiction. You need to start by being a good role model to your child. Let him learn a lot from you compared to what the TV has to offer. You can also set a limit on the amount of time he can watch the television. He should know that too much of anything is not good and that there is time for doing other things too. Offering your son other alternative recreational activities will go a long way in addressing his TV addiction. He should know that there is so much more he can do with his time besides watching TV. Besides monitoring the kind of programmes he is watching, you can also make TV viewing contingent on reading or doing homework. Before he can watch TV, he should have done his homework or a household chore.