Comments on: What are TV-free kids like? http://unplugyourkids.com/2007/03/01/what-are-tv-free-kids-like/ Living a TV-free life ... with a few crafts and books thrown in! Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:13:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Mom of three http://unplugyourkids.com/2007/03/01/what-are-tv-free-kids-like/comment-page-1/#comment-62 Mom of three Fri, 16 Mar 2007 18:30:00 +0000 http://74.52.60.18/~marybun/blog/?p=111#comment-62 Wow! What great comments! Thanks for taking the time for such an interesting and thoughtful contribution to my blog. Please keep coming back and sharing your thoughts!<br/><br/>I really love the direct quote in comment #2, that your kids say without TV they "won't know what's going on in the world!" They can be so funny...and they really know how to push our buttons don't they! Wow! What great comments! Thanks for taking the time for such an interesting and thoughtful contribution to my blog. Please keep coming back and sharing your thoughts!

I really love the direct quote in comment #2, that your kids say without TV they “won’t know what’s going on in the world!” They can be so funny…and they really know how to push our buttons don’t they!

]]> By: Anonymous http://unplugyourkids.com/2007/03/01/what-are-tv-free-kids-like/comment-page-1/#comment-54 Anonymous Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:42:00 +0000 http://74.52.60.18/~marybun/blog/?p=111#comment-54 We've never let the children (ages 6 and 7.5) watch television programs, but they have caught a glimpse or two at friends' houses, and we became concerned recently that our nanny may not have been honoring our no tv instruction, so this morning we turned off the cable connection. [We actually never did turn the tv on except for the annual super bowl game, so this is not a hardship for the adults in the family at all]. They do get to watch videos from time to time, mostly on weekends, but they've tended to ask for those less and less lately. Recently, though, probably put up to it by the nanny, they've been asking why they can't watch TV and whether we did watch as children, and complaining that they won't know what's going on in the world (a direct quote) and that they don't know what their friends are talking about. But the really interesting thing is that if we just ignore the complaints they very quickly find interesting ways to amuse themselves. <br/>I do worry sometimes about the cultural literacy issue (if you can call anything related to commercial TV either cultural or literate!). I don't want them bullied. But I am hoping we can help them develop their self esteem sufficiently that they will take pride in their difference, their creativity, their non-tv accomplishments, their imaginative lives. <br/>I also think that the day may come when we will have to relax this prohibition. When I was young we were permitted 30 minutes of TV during the school week for every A we had received during the prior grading period. With only 5 classes, this meant we could only watch 2.5 hrs of tv a week. I could probably live with that if I had to. But I fear it is a slippery slope. We’ve never let the children (ages 6 and 7.5) watch television programs, but they have caught a glimpse or two at friends’ houses, and we became concerned recently that our nanny may not have been honoring our no tv instruction, so this morning we turned off the cable connection. [We actually never did turn the tv on except for the annual super bowl game, so this is not a hardship for the adults in the family at all]. They do get to watch videos from time to time, mostly on weekends, but they’ve tended to ask for those less and less lately. Recently, though, probably put up to it by the nanny, they’ve been asking why they can’t watch TV and whether we did watch as children, and complaining that they won’t know what’s going on in the world (a direct quote) and that they don’t know what their friends are talking about. But the really interesting thing is that if we just ignore the complaints they very quickly find interesting ways to amuse themselves.
I do worry sometimes about the cultural literacy issue (if you can call anything related to commercial TV either cultural or literate!). I don’t want them bullied. But I am hoping we can help them develop their self esteem sufficiently that they will take pride in their difference, their creativity, their non-tv accomplishments, their imaginative lives.
I also think that the day may come when we will have to relax this prohibition. When I was young we were permitted 30 minutes of TV during the school week for every A we had received during the prior grading period. With only 5 classes, this meant we could only watch 2.5 hrs of tv a week. I could probably live with that if I had to. But I fear it is a slippery slope.

]]> By: Anonymous http://unplugyourkids.com/2007/03/01/what-are-tv-free-kids-like/comment-page-1/#comment-34 Anonymous Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:39:00 +0000 http://74.52.60.18/~marybun/blog/?p=111#comment-34 Yep, we disconnected the tube last June (and we live in a rural enough area that if you don't have cable or satellite, you don't have any reception at all) and I was once again surprised by a comment my husband made just this weekend as we were playing Parcheesi as a family on Saturday night after having a living room picnic... He said, "MAN I love not having TV!" Just like that! Outta the blue. And I think he was expressing what we were all feeling. He said it because we were in the middle of real live family memory-making time instead of boob tube watching, which we probably would have done "in the old days". And we still have "the box," or the TV, so we use it to watch the occasional DVD movie together as a family, but then it's an EVENT that we do TOGETHER (with popcorn and homemade pizza) and it's still more memorable than just plain ol' TV viewing. Glad that's outta our life! Maybe that'll change if our kid gets to feeling left out or teased, but the skills we're learnnig now as a family to entertain ourselves and enjoy eachother will last! Amy Yep, we disconnected the tube last June (and we live in a rural enough area that if you don’t have cable or satellite, you don’t have any reception at all) and I was once again surprised by a comment my husband made just this weekend as we were playing Parcheesi as a family on Saturday night after having a living room picnic… He said, “MAN I love not having TV!” Just like that! Outta the blue. And I think he was expressing what we were all feeling. He said it because we were in the middle of real live family memory-making time instead of boob tube watching, which we probably would have done “in the old days”. And we still have “the box,” or the TV, so we use it to watch the occasional DVD movie together as a family, but then it’s an EVENT that we do TOGETHER (with popcorn and homemade pizza) and it’s still more memorable than just plain ol’ TV viewing. Glad that’s outta our life! Maybe that’ll change if our kid gets to feeling left out or teased, but the skills we’re learnnig now as a family to entertain ourselves and enjoy eachother will last! Amy

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