Posted on 02/05/2008 12:35:01 PM PST by gobucks
"Super Readers, Super Readers!" my little Gb begs in strident toddler tones. I oblige, and he is now sitting on the couch, while Mr. and Mrs. Gb take a break from the work day, watching a show on PBS that has eunuch-type super hero characters exhorting those watching out there in kidville to 'read'. This show, insipid as it is, gets rave kudos from the ocean of Moms out there, and I couldn't find a single hit in Google which criticizes it.
But, there is a problem, and its illustrated by my little boys face. He's not concentrating, not in the least. I know his concentration face looks like because he does spend a lot of time looking at our books. No, instead he looks drugged, as if he is receiving a slow dose of anesthesia just before the dentist gets busy removing his budding wisdom teeth. "Super Zombies" Mrs. Gb quietly remarks, and we observe our boy takes no notice of his Mom's comment, as he sits there slack-jawed.
We like TV at times; I watched the recent Super Bowl w/ my wife - we were thoroughly impressed with Eli's final drive to victory. But as I watch a strong, vigorous kid go slack in front of this plug-in-drug, this zombie idol, this electronic-income-reducer, I have to reconsider a suggestion Mrs. Gb has repeatedly made: although it's a magnificent distraction when a distraction is really needed(?), the TVs should be ejected from our home.
It's funny strange ... in all of the circles of people I have met, one constant is present amid all the 'diversity': everyone has a TV in the living room, and usually in other rooms of their home. The women of these homes tend to look forward to Oprah, the men, golf and football games. This picture is just ... strange.
I have a deep hunch there is a subset of people out there who never let their children watch ANY programming on TV. And I have a deeper hunch their kids are super readers indeed. And I'm not thinking of the Amish...
I'd be interested in any observations of Freepers out there regarding this...
I suppose I could pull the plug and go ahead an do this ... but I want to watch the Masters this April. Tickets to the event at Augusta are difficult to obtain.
It is a real struggle.
Kids mimic their parents. You want your kid to read, go read. They’ll want to do what you’re doing. My daughter reads for enjoyment, though now that she’s 13, she tries to hide that she likes it. Yet she’ll always be first out the door when the destination is the book store.
We unplugged the cable a few years back. Within a year, our eldest went from loathing books to becoming absolutely passionate about them. He now reads at about 7 years above grade level. The others appear to be on the same path. We do allow them to watch DVDs, giving us control over content and quantity.
Have more kids ASAP - that will *normal* up the environment.
Playing, fighting, sharing and learning from one another. More fun than passively watching characters on TV with whom they cannot interact or touch.
For children, watching TV is very much like being a deaf mute on the outside looking in.
We didn’t have a tv until our oldest was about 5, and that was B&W (in the 80s). We never subscribed to cable, so our kids had to put up with whatever we could get in through the antenna. That amounted to 4-5 local stations, including PBS, with varying degrees of clarity.
Our son, now almost 30, has no tv in his home, and is limiting his son’s computer time.
Our daughter prefers the classics and we just buy or rent DVDs.
Every now and then, I look at what cable has to offer, and decide it isn’t worth the monthly fees. I’d rather buy DVDs, read books, knit, and surf.
“We do allow them to watch DVDs, giving us control over content and quantity.”
I’m thinking this might be our road too...
I’m chuckling a bit; we do have a little girl, who doesn’t find TV that arresting yet; she’s not two though, and a little brother is soon to arrive...
I suspect the siblings will indeed make a difference in this....
Just little the time your child(ren) can watch television. And even there, try to restrict the television to more stimulating programming.
I hate to say this, but as a homeschooler I was the last of the luddites - a person without cable/satellite - until this last year when I finally ordered it. Now my 9-yr-old uses it as part of his school day. My son was a “passionate reader” from the age of three, and we didn’t watch a lot of TV except for the occasional PBS show until we moved to the country. I had seriously considered not getting any TV, but my mother (whom lives with us) could NOT live without the news (she’s a newsjunkie) and as a result we were forced to order satellite. Broadcast doesn’t pick up out here, and I don’t want my 80-yr-old mother to die of FoxNews withdrawal.
I’ve incorporated the Discovery/History/Science channel into our curriculum, and I use it a quite a bit, especially for the science end of things. But I also vet everything he watches, and I use the DVR function to stop and discuss everything with him when WE are watching TOGETHER. And EVERYTHING is watched together...
Except for a very few channels, everything is on lock. I know ahead of time what he’s watching, and when he’s watching it. I think that makes a big difference. The other difference is, he didn’t “grow up” watching the TV, but instead learned to read first - so that is another big factor in our scholastic lives as well.
I consider the TV to be a valuable and dangerous tool, like fire or the internet. Being a Boy Scout, my son knows how to use fire, and as a homeschooler, he’s learning to use the internet, too! But each child is different. Get to know your child, and chose their learning tools wisely...
Have there been any studies on the correlation between hours spent watching TV and attention deficit disorder?
I really hadn’t considered how frustrating it must be for a toddler - trying to communicate with the characters on TV. Poor little tykes - watching flickering images that just chatter on and don’t listen. Probably driving our children nuts and we don’t know it!!!!
It is quite possible to raise kids without TV but that does not necessarily turn them into super readers. I was raised without TV, I am a super reader but my brother who was also raised without TV is not. It depends on whither the child is inclined to be a "body" or a "mind". Of course parents should make the "body" kids read some and the "mind" kids run around the block some to get some balance in their lives but you can't make one into the other.
All of that said TV can be a great tool if used properly. Especially for kids who are audio-visual rather then book learners.
We haven’t had a ‘real’ TV in years, maybe decades now that I think about it. We have a video player to watch movies (rentals or bought) but even that is getting less and less use as there just isn’t that many worth wasting two hours of one’s life on.
My daughters’ friends used to laugh when I would tell my girls that if they didn’t put their books down and go outside and play they would be in trouble. Voracious readers all. Our boys read, but not as much as their sisters did.
All of this crap about TV making kids stupid is even less scientific than global warming. It's all about what you expose your kid to and for how often.
That's a huge mistake. You'll burn your kids out if you act like school is in session 24 hours a day. Kids like watching characters act silly on TV and in movies. It's good for them to take breaks from science and math and literature and learn about their world and about other people and how those people interact with each other in a movie or show (even if the characters are cartoons).
We do have "a TV," which is set up only to play movies. It gives you complete control over what your kid watches. And you'll find that TV shows aren't that hard to miss.
Plus which, your house will be a lot quieter, and you'll have a lot more time to do other stuff.
If you really, really need to watch some show or other, you may be able to check them out at your local library.
Oh, agree with your point a lot. Just disapprove of programs totally devoid of practically any use, such as many game shows (not all) and the new gladiator show. Even some reality shows have use as they show—as you’ve pointed out—human interactions (though oftentimes the participants are hardly average Americans).
I wish I could get my husband to give up TV. Our home in the hills had reception only for the local Fox affiliate. I’d just as soon have unplugged it entirely. Now we have Dish Network, over 200 channels and usually nothing worth watching. It’s a waste of money for the most part. ESPN and Speed Channels are OK, I guess.
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