Monday, January 23, 2012

Too Much TV?

I've never been a big fan of TV.

OK, that's not true. I actually grew up glued to a screen, and a ridiculous amount of my brain space is taken up by commercial jingles and sitcoms from the late 70's and early 80's. If there were ever a random trivia contest where I could win a million dollars knowing the dialogue for every Brady Bunch episode, it's quite possible that I'd be rich.

In college, I would fall asleep watching reruns of shows that were older than me, but when I eventually grew up and had kids of my own, I questioned the constant presence of television. Perhaps it was partially maternal instinct, or maybe it was an effect of granola crunching area I lived in at the time. In any case, I sensed that TV and kids weren't a good mix.

As a semi-self righteous new mom, most of what I saw on kids TV seemed relatively brainless or obnoxious, and I really had no desire to defile the brains of my offspring with such garbage. I eventually succumbed to the lure of the small bit of freedom and time that a PBS Kids show or two could buy me, but it was very, very limited. Plus, I recalled my marketing classes, and the "whine factor" that companies wanted their toys to create, so I stuck with no commercials at least.

For the most part, I've managed to be a TV snob for the last 14 years. We managed to live in a happy little box of our own with very little TV influence for a long, long time. Of course life changes, and so do things, especially things I get on a soap box about.

Lately, some of my days involve so much driving and running around that we are exhausted and brain dead when we get home. Now that winter has finally hit with a vengeance, we have times of being cooped up and feeling lazy. We have a house full of creative materials, which we use, but within a couple of hours, the inspiration or motivation runs low, and it's too cold, too rainy and overall too nasty to go outside. Then, I start thinking about the rot box.

Boy Child is always happy to turn it on, while Girl Child is more likely to be checking the handy function which will tell us exactly how much screen time we've had in a day, week or whatever, and informing me of it.

It never seems like it's been on as long as it has, which is probably how people end up watching the enormous amounts of TV you hear about in statistics. In my defense, we're nowhere near the national average, and it's usually educational-ish, so I can at least count some of it as homeschooling, but still....it's TV.

After years of (sort of smugly) saying "We don't really watch TV," I'm wondering if I can still honestly say that anymore. I don't think watching a documentary is the same as a reality show, but technically, we're still staring at a TV screen. Since the handy screen time tracking feature has shown that we do in fact, use the TV more than ever, I guess I should probably at least lose the raised nose / downward cast glances about the subject.

Parents in general, and homeschooling parents in particular seem to swing widely in opinions on TV. Is it a tool, or is it trash? How much is too much? Does it interfere with more creative endeavors? Does it increase bad attitudes and materialistic envy? What does your family do when it comes to watching? Since the box is obviously open for good in my house, I'd love to hear how other parents deal.

10 comments:

  1. My kids get about 2 hours of PBS every saturday morning in my room while I beg for just a little more sleep.
    We also have "date nights" where each kid gets individualized attention and afterwards they get to pick a movie to watch. That's once a week.
    They also watch Glee, but that's about the only child appropriate show that's on anymore. Sometimes, even Glee crosses the line.
    That's about it, for them anyway.
    My husband and I like to watch Nip/Tuck on Netflix after they're in bed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We do not homeschooling at the moment but I remember using the TV as an earned privilege . PBS was the main channel also because of the non commercial format but even that has changed. Sponsors are given more time to toot their horns these days. We don't have much time for random TV but do watch a movie maybe every other weekend. Even the movies are preselected. I choose what I think is a good family flick if they want to watch with me great if not they often find a good book or down time in another way. I've had the chance to talk with a few families whose children have grown using primarily Waldorf methods which is "indiscrimant media" focused. None have said they wished they'd watched more TV. I think there are great films and documentaries and that they can inspire our subconscious in the same way trash can can clutter our brains. Right now though it seems life is too short to watch much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We do not homeschooling at the moment but I remember using the TV as an earned privilege . PBS was the main channel also because of the non commercial format but even that has changed. Sponsors are given more time to toot their horns these days. We don't have much time for random TV but do watch a movie maybe every other weekend. Even the movies are preselected. I choose what I think is a good family flick if they want to watch with me great if not they often find a good book or down time in another way. I've had the chance to talk with a few families whose children have grown using primarily Waldorf methods which is "indiscrimant media" focused. None have said they wished they'd watched more TV. I think there are great films and documentaries and that they can inspire our subconscious in the same way trash can can clutter our brains. Right now though it seems life is too short to watch much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been a TV snob right around with you. I won't hesitate to emphasize the fact that when our livingroom TV died, we didn't replace it, and we disconnected the cable. I don't mention that Punky has a TV and DVD playing in her room that she watches way more than I like. Or the TV in our room hooked to netflix. tsk tsk.

    I am a closet TV addict. No, I don't watch more than an hour a day, tops, but I still love it. I'm trying NOT to instill that in my children (though I failed miserably with Punky).

    I recently read a lot of very encouraging psychological research about Blue's Clues that I never would have guessed before, so maybe when Flintstone hits 2 years, I'll let him watch an episode or two.

    And I LOVE Magic School Bus.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeah, TV time is an ongoing challenge here too. We have a token system: he gets 2 at the beginning of the week, has the opportunity to earn an extra with a chore, and when they're gone, that's it for the week.

    Works great, except for that the little brother is going to want screen time at some point, and that's going to be more complicated. Don't know what we'll do then.

    Anyway, your posts are included in the latest Classical Homeschooling Carnival - thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's a tough one for sure. On the one hand, there are some worthwhile things on, but I do see materialism and bad attitudes as having a clear connection, so we're sticking with very limited TV. Whenever the weather is decent, I can't imagine turning it on, but when I'm exhausted and it's yucky out, it tries calling us :-)

    Thanks Ritsumei for including me in the carnival!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We try hard to keep it limited as well. We don't have cable anymore, so that helps! Just found you through the carnival of Homeschooling. I have a homeschool blog roll & would love to have you link yours up to it!
    http://teachbesideme.blogspot.com
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  8. We use "technology time" as a reward.
    My boys have the opportunity to earn some each day for accomplishing school, chores, and for having good attitudes.
    Since video games are also "technology", my children just don't chose television.
    Video games are a whole different topic for debate...but this method works for us.

    ReplyDelete
  9. We don't have a tv, but not because I'm a tv snob, or at least I don't see myself that way. When I was growing up, my dad was (is) as workaholic, and he'd work late, come home and watch tv literally all night. I remember sneaking down and turning the volume down in the middle of the night so I could sleep. I hated how much time it took away from us as a family. So when I got married, I didn't want one in the house. Luckily, my husband was ok with that! We do have a computer with a netlflix suscription and my dh and I watch when the kids are in bed. The kids watch the occasional dvd too. But for the most part, since it's not around, no one even thinks about it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. An hour a week is plenty....any more than that (for kids or adults!) and you are a zombie.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.