Why this mum has banned her sons from watching telly

TV time isn't the best for kids, but would you consider getting rid of it altogether?

We'd all like to burn the box from time to time when we have trouble getting the kids away from it but one mum has gone the whole hog and banned her two sons from watching TV at all. Veronika Pena, whose sons Kiyan and Rafael are 7 and 12 years old, keeps them from watching telly for the sake of their health. "I know from my training as a fitness instructor that physical movement is the key to a child's development," she told the Sun. "Sitting still in front of a screen seriously inhibits their mental and physical progress." The boys don't even watch it at friend's houses as Veronika, who lives in Herefordshire in England with her husband and kids, asks other parents not to let them. "I don’t see that as a problem – it’s the same as a vegetarian asking them not to feed their kids meat," she said. She said that watching TV just once had a negative effect on one of the boys. "My dad let Rafael watch Power Rangers once and afterwards he went so crazy for days that even he agreed it was a good idea they didn’t watch anything!" The screen time issue is a big one for parents - John Legend, husband of Chrissy Teigen, revealed earlier this year that they haven't let their one-year-old daughter Luna have any screen or TV time just yet. That said, Luna's still very young. We don't know how practical it'd really be to completely keep your tots away from screens forever.