"When it is convenient for a parâ€" ent, the television is wonderful, but when it is inconvenient for a parent, the television is a terrible thing," he said. Schatzky said the national averâ€" age of television viewing for Canadian children is between 18 and 23 hours per week. FIND A BALANCE He would not recommend to his audience an appropriate average viewing time, but advised parents "to look at how television fits into the child‘s general diet of life" and work out a balance. Children get mixed messages from parents about television Schatzky said. ACT is a national organization â€" founded in 1974 â€" which advocates quality television programs for chilâ€" dren, public awareness of the influâ€" ence of television on children, and encourages the positive use of the medium by children and parents. "Television for children and famâ€" ilies is often a power struggle and is a parenting issue," said David Schatzky, a former executive direcâ€" tor of ACT with 20 years of broadâ€" casting experience on CBC Radio. Children and television is not merely a question of content, but it is primarily a parenting concern a representative from the Alliance for Children and Television (ACT) told a group at Munn‘s United Church on * Ionday night. By CHERYL ELLIOT Special to the North News Parents encouraged to watch television and discuss programs with their children Text uredl Cut IPllg Saxony ' 10 year warranty, 5 year st Offer expires March Fancy Carpet SPRING SPECIALS AT WHOLESALE PRICES Eully Installed. Reg. $23.95 Watching television with your children can be also a bonding activity especially if you are sitting together closely, Schatzky said. "If kids see honest reactions to things on television from us," he said, "they tend to absorb our valâ€" ues." Schatzky advises parents to watch television with children "as much as you can stand" and to disâ€" cuss positive and negative aspects of shows. "But one of the worst aspects of David Schatzky CHILDREN‘S ADVERTISING Commercial broadcasters are becoming more sensitive to parental objections to advertising in chilâ€" dren‘s programs, but the tactics of advertisers are "pretty disgusting" even though there are strict guideâ€" lines, Schatzky pointed out. His best suggestion for dealing with advertising is to caution a child that if she asks for a product that is advertised on television, the televiâ€" sion will be turned off. "On American networks, the limit on advertising in children‘s programs is 12 minutes per hour," said Schatzky. "In Canada, it is eight minutes per hour." CBC carries no advertising for preâ€"school programs, according to Schatzky, and YTV carries no advertising in the morning. Schatzky believes television can influence behavior. Violent carâ€" toons, in particular, can encourage "During the Gulf War, some chilâ€" dren were traumatized," he said. "They couldn‘t understand that it wasn‘t going to affect us here and were very scared. "A lot of news content just reinâ€" forces the idea that the world is an unsafe, unreliable place." Schatzky said watching televiâ€" sion news can be problematic for children depending on their age, sensitivities, and interests. television," he added, "is for the child to sit there, totally in isolation, having a relationship. with a mechanical apparatus as oppose to being with a human beine." Schatzky feels that some shows can "invade a child‘s sense of being a child," and that television is one of the contributing factors to chilâ€" dren growing up too fast. "You have the right to move in and control it," he told the group. violent behavior. "Just because a program is a carâ€" toon," he told the group, "doesn‘t mean it is for kids." He considers ‘Sesame Street‘, ‘Mr. Rogers‘, ‘Reading Rainbow‘, A PROJECT OF THE OAKVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Metailers realize that regular customers are their best customers. Get to know your retailer personally. It‘s good business and everybody wins! For older children, he prefers ‘Ghost Writer‘ and ‘Where in the World is Carmen Santiago‘, and says that the popular show ‘Full House‘ is suitable. The meeting was sponsored by the Ladies Friendship Group of Munn‘s United Church. and ‘Polka Dot Door‘ to be still good television fare for younger children. He also likes the new proâ€" grams ‘Big Comfy Couch‘ and ‘Barney and Friends‘.