September 14, 2005 3:01 PM
RethinkingTV
Among today's comments, one mom said, " I'm surprised by the number of moms I meet who leave the tv on all day (so their kids won't bug them too much?)... "
Please, moms, think ahead. By using the tv as a pacifier/entertainer for your kids, you may be gaining a few minutes relief, but you will be seeling your kids and your family short.
First of all, your children will never learn to entertain themselves, but always be dependent on an outside source.
Second, you will miss important moments of bonding. The secret of quality time is that you're more likely to have it if you have quantity time.
Third, you wil be leaving your children wide open to forces working to create a consumer mentality as early as possible. By the time they are teens, they will be like sheep following as materialism beckons.
Much better to put a stool in the kitchen and let your child stand there while you work. Let him put away the dishes and wipe the counters, even if he can't do it very well. Let her help you move the clothes from the washer and dryer. Make them feel like important and necessary members of the family. This will give them more self-esteem than a lifetime of Barney.
We didn't have TV for the first 15 years of our marriage, though we did get a VCR in 1986 and hook it up to a screen so we could watch good movies. When satellite dishes were introduced, we were homeschooling everyone and saw a great opportunity with history, science, and arts and entertainment channels.
However, we have never allowed our kids to watch sitcoms - not just becuae of the sexual innuendo and coarse humor, but because of the sarcasm and putdowns of others. We didn't want our children to talk to each other or us that way, so even when we got a satellite, we didn't allow sitcoms. I think that has a lot to do with why people comment on how nicely our kids talk to each other.
I would really encourage moms who've been using TV to think more long term. You want kids who are cheerful, unselfish, helpful, and who can find things to do independently. Every hour in front of a TV is an hour working against those values.
technorati tag: television
Posted in Mothering | Permalink
Comments
Amen! If it were my choice I'd throw the T.V. out the window! Hubby would never go for that. It's gotten so bad. They can't sell toothpaste to hamburgers and beyond without sex being involved, ugh! The violence and materialism? Wow, I better stop now or I'll never stop.
Posted by: Lori | September 15, 2005 7:01 AM
We've been tv-free since my daughter was born 14 years ago. It's so much better to not have tv. We, like you, have a vcr/dvd player but do not get any television stations by cable, over the air or anything. For many of the same reasons: the coarseness of mainstream tv "entertainment", especially stuff aimed at kids; the commercialism; the violence.
Yes there's some good stuff, but we decided that the bad outweighs the good and we can always rent videos/dvds of the good stuff.
I cannot imagine what people are thinking who just plunk their kids in from of the tv! we too have found our kids developed the wonderful ability to amuse themselves, through play that usually is pretty creative.
Your last paragraph says it all! (I'd only add "and dads" to the sentence).
Posted by: chip | September 15, 2005 7:48 PM
