Well, tomorrow is the start of the annual TV Turnoff Week. I have never formally participated but have been waiting for some reason to try a little experiment, so this is perfect. I read this post and have also been reading a few books lately (more books? I know, I really need to stop doing that and go scrub my kitchen floors or something) that have me thinking I should make a few changes.
We aren't huge TV watchers. Tom and I have a few cheesy, predictable series that we watch (like Monk...so sad it is over), but other than that, we have slowly had to break up with most of the other shows we used to watch...we decided that we were giving way too many second chances to shows that were not helping us in any way. So if we are watching something and there is something offensive, off it goes. I won't lie, there are some shows that started out clean that I sort of enjoyed and might have missed for a day or two when they got the axe, but our no-looking-back way of doing things has left me with no regrets.
Anyway, Braden doesn't really watch that much TV. And it is all PBS and Disney movies. But in the back of my mind, I have been questioning whether he really should be watching it at all. It seems like the amount of TV is slowly creeping up. And it really bothers me that if he runs out of ideas for things to do, he is starting to ask to watch shows. I don't think the issue is really whether the shows he is watching are good - it is more an issue of what watching TV in the first place is preventing him from doing and learning.
Even a week ago, I was convinced that the only way for me to shower and get ready for the day was to turn on Sid the Science Kid so that Braden would stay out of trouble. But I started reading a book I stumbled upon, Taking Childhood Back, and it got me thinking about the whole thing in a different way. The book is all about how current trends in society are affecting today's kids and how they are missing out on a lot of the things that people take for granted as being part of childhood. For example, a lot of them are learning about the life cycle of a frog in school and have never even tried to catch a frog in their backyard! Today's kids are heavily influenced by the media and don't know how to entertain themselves. Anyway, it's a good book - it's not all about TV, but so far, so good.
Anyway, I think I might try it this week. I am expecting protests and some good, strong whining from the PBS-lover among us. But I do think that after a few days, good things could come of this.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying I am giving up TV forever or becoming a no-media purist or anything.
I'm not getting rid of our movies or taking a hammer to the DVD player.
I just want to see what happens.
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4 comments:
Let me know how it goes. I have been thinking and studying a lot with these same issues in mind.
Good for you Meredith! I'm excited to hear how it goes!!
Meredith, so funny how much we're on the same page in lots of ways. I have been talking to Mandy alot about family, kids, and movies, and media. I've done a few stints where we didn't watch movies, and my kids' behavior improved. I have noticed that my kids behavior is so much better when they aren't watching movies (we don't have tv at all). so I have ebbs and flows but I am convinced that the less they watch (as hard as it is sometimes for the parent) the better off they are.
...easy to say, harder to do...but everything's harder at first. I'm still trying. Ideally I'd like to have them on a "Friday night" movie night where that's the only one they watch and look forward to, rather than during the week. But I'm not there yet either.
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