"Super Readers" - A boy discovers PBS; Time to Kill the TV?

GoBucks ^ | 5 Feb 08 | GoBucks

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Lately every time I look at the listing for the History Channel, it’s showing Monster Quest (whatever the heck that is) or a Bible-bashing special (Sunday during the Super Bowl they were showing $ex in the Bible and Banned [Books] from the Bible. I’d rather watch the Puppy Bowl!

[dandelion]

I know... my husband was so hacked off he told me to put the History Channel on lock as well...

Even the cartoon channels have to be locked, because much of their fare is unpalatable for young minds - or even for older ones. In the end, watch the TV WITH your children; you’ll never regret it.

[knittnmom]

My husband never got hooked, because he prefers doing something to watching anything. Unless he’s ill.

And dandelion has a good point - watch WITH them. Discuss what they’ve seen, help them evaluate what they’ve seen.

Cool thing with DVDs is that the “extras” often include something about how certain scenes were filmed, the special effects, etc. That can help younger ones separate fantasy and reality.

[knittnmom]

My husband never got hooked, because he prefers doing something to watching anything. Unless he’s ill.

And dandelion has a good point - watch WITH them. Discuss what they’ve seen, help them evaluate what they’ve seen.

Cool thing with DVDs is that the “extras” often include something about how certain scenes were filmed, the special effects, etc. That can help younger ones separate fantasy and reality.

[PinkChampagneonIce]

I must really be the exception to the rule here, but for most of my life I haven’t had a TV. I had one from about 1990 - 1996 or so, but seldom watched it. One thing I can say is that after going over a decade without one, when I did buy one in 1990 I was surprised by how STRONG the images were the first time I watched it — I was actually so frightened and upset by what I saw on the news and other programs that I had trouble sleeping. AND, I noticed how the next day my system had adjusted and I no longer had that reaction. That experience made a profound impression on me, and made me even more reluctant to get into the television viewing habit.

I can’t think of one of my good friends who has a TV in the living room — the living room has always been for entertaining, which means eating, drinking, talking and otherwise interacting with each other. I consider watching television while people are visiting to be rude, unless everyone was specifically invited to watch something (and then discuss it afterward).

I just don’t like vicarious living. I like to read, cook, garden, sew, study, learn new things, DO new things, build stuff, go places, meet and talk to people, walk, and lots of other things. Where would I ever find the time to do all those fun things if I were watching TV? But I do confess to spending more time than I probably should on FR! LOL!

[Hyzenthlay]

I still occasionally watch History Channel stuff for class, and I’m in college... I grew up with no cable, only my dad (until I was 13 or so and figured it out myself) could make the TV pick up broadcast signals, and a VCR and some videotapes that were either educational and occasionally Star Wars or Star Trek. Incidentally, I’m a voracious reader, but my siblings who grew up in the same environment aren’t - my brother prefers sports and video games and my sister prefers sports and socialising with her friends.

[enviros_kill]

Kill the television, keep the shows
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/10/kill_the_televi.html

Very good article on benefits of scheduling a time to watch DVDs or downloads in a separate room vs. having TV on all the time (esp. news)

As Steve Jobs says, “You watch television to turn your brain off and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.”

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Association of Television Viewing During Childhood With Poor Educational Achievement, July 2005, Hancox et al. 159 (7): 614
http://www.commercialalert.org/tvhancoxmilne.pdf
Actual report in pediatrics journal