Let’s be honest children take up a lot of time and you cannot be there all the time to monitor what they do. Sometimes it is good to have a few things around to give you a helping hand and one of the biggest problems parents currently face is that of too much screen time. Ofcom* revealed that 9 in 10 children are watching television every day, with the largest number sitting in front of the screen at peak family viewing time of 6-9pm. Obviously at this time of day what is on because less suitable for young eyes. Now those with the TalkTalk Kids Package have one less thing to worry about with the TalkTalk Kids Remote.
Now for only* £5 (with batteries included) the TalkTalk Kids TV remote is putting parents back in control of their children’s television viewing. Giving them the authority to decide what their children watch and for how long. The TalkTalk Kids TV Remote only allows children to watch what is in the KidsZone (*subscription required only £5 per month) – but parents or guardians can opt to hide certain shows. Plus they can restrict the amount of time they are watched for and set bedtime reminders before the TV automatically shuts down. An animation appears on the screen giving children advanced warning that bedtime is approaching and will remain throughout – so there’s no chance of them missing it; plus it will not start to play a new show if there is only a few minutes left until bedtime. Bedtime can be set in increments of fifteen minutes but also can be cancelled on the adult remote after bedtime has happened (maybe the child has asked nicely to stay up and has been good) or brought forward with a touch of the yellow button on the adult remote (maybe the child is overtired or not been very well behaved).
The TalkTalk Kids TV Remote has been designed with children in mind and is suitable to be held by little hands and is easy to navigate, working independently from the main remote. Children can select the shows they want to watch by pressing the tick to pick their choice of programme and then use the circular part of the controller to select which episode they wish to watch. It does not matter how the child holds the remote as it will still work due to the design of many sensors built-in. To come out of the KidsZone to watch other channels, catch-up TV or recordings then a code needs to be entered on the primary remote – but this is just copying a number on the screen so it is probably best not just to leave the adult remote lying around! Therefore children cannot just watch other channels, or non-approved content (due to age inappropriateness or whether the child has become too obsessed, or even if they are grounded!)
I think that the TalkTalk Kids TV Remote is a really good idea for young children – being easy to use, understand and giving parents control in a simple way for kids to understand. I would like to see more shows being added though – and it aimed at an older audience too. I feel it would have been better if the parents decided on a pin code as opposed to copying a number on the screen – but this may be easier for grandma or a babysitter. I definitely like the idea of restricting how early and late they can watch television too. Parents are also able to view the data to see how much and which shows have been viewed – but I have not come across this feature as yet.
*https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/childrens-media-use
This is a collaborative post.