That is definitely the question.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been enjoying the wonderfully whimsical book Mitten Strings For God by Katrina Kenison and have been enraptured by her ideas of simplicity and novelty. She is an inspiring person, which makes her writing all the more insightful and provocative.
And when she mentions that her family no longer watches T.V.; that "it has lost its power over all of us," I have to say, I'm definitely intrigued. A life without T.V.? What does one do with his idle time?
Kenison relates with stories of walks around the neighborhood at night with one of her sons, daydreaming about travels to faraway worlds. She talks of sadness when seeing the bluish glow coming from the windows of every home on the block...
"As I rounded the block and headed toward home tonight, I could not help but feel a bit sad, discouraged to think how easily we have come to accept the pervasiveness of the media in our lives. The world we live in is a world of our own making, the sum of all our collective choices. Yet so many parents feel powerless to make good choices... How can any of us protect our children from the relentless display of violence, sex, noise, inappropriate humor, and advertising in a media-driven world that is already saturated with these sounds and images? How will our children resist such influences if we can't manage to resist them ourselves? How is it that, in a society in which most of us feel starved for time, we are willing to hand over the time we do have to our TV sets?"
WOW.
I have been floored reading this, as if she's written every one of those questions for my eyes to read and my heart to take seriously.
GG and I have actually given up T.V. for Lent for the past few years and will vouch as to the rewards of greater time for prayer, conversation, reading, and just about anything. How amazing would it be to have all of that time? Yet how difficult it would be, I admit, to forego our precious LOST and The Amazing Race, which spurn togetherness (I suppose) and hobby-esque conversation. I also hate to mention a certain Saturday activity during the fall, which would have to disappear altogether. Possible for GG? I don't even know!
Overall, though, I am beginning to see a familiar "boob tube" obsession emerging in a certain toddler in Gasperini-Ville. Are we ruining him with too much media exposure, fueling his desire for more? I just really don't know.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Is cutting out T.V. a ludicrous idea?
Or should we pull the plug permanently?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Prayers for you during this season of Advent.
God bless.
9 comments:
The Greeks had it right--all things in moderation. If you apply that standard to TV, it can become a valued and enjoyable adjunct to life. Unfortunately, too many have made it the centerpiece of life. My advice is to strictly control your TV viewing. Don't randomly surf the tube but plan in advance what you are going to watch. Uncle G, a very busy executive, uses tevo to record what he wants to see and then watches it on his schedue not the networks' schedule. Be a smart TV viewer and read more.
I think it is possible to cut out TV from your life, but just because it is possible doesn't mean it is necessary. Our solution has been to not subscribe to cable, and to limit TV viewing to sports, and not just any sport but a few select teams and or playoff/championship games. During football season we watch the Eagles, and sometimes Sunday night football...but that about sums up our TV watching for the week. Outside of football season we regularly go weeks without any television. We allow the kids to watch an occasional video (1 or 2 times per week), and videos are nice because they have a set ending time, usually only 1/2 hour long. I hope this helps!
My almost-in-laws have a "TV Room" upstairs in their home. The neat thing about this is that you have to go there to watch tv, it's not just on all the time in the middle of everything. The family room downstairs is for visiting, reading, doing puzzles, etc. Though they don't have children at home now, this is something they started when my fiance was a child. I love this concept, because watching TV at their home is something deliberate--"Let's watch the Angels' game tonight!", not just unconscious because it's there and on sucking up time. I'm amazed at how little time we spend watching TV when we visit them--and we don't miss it! :)
We decided before we were married that we wouldn't have TV and have stuck to it so far! I spend way to much time on the internet, which I sometimes think might be worse than TV b/c of the full attention it requires. We check out and rent DVDs to watch on the computer and have a little collection of DVDs for the kids. I used to watch EWTN streaming live on the internet a lot, but haven't been able to figure it out w/ our computer the past year. My parents have TVs in almost every room and all the cable channels we could want...so we get our TV share at our weekly visits there! It's worked out for us especially b/c we probably would have it on all day if we had one.
I think if having a TV could be an exercise in self-control. Maybe you might try having it and seriously restricting your time watching it (i.e. one night a week, etc). Everything in moderation.
That said, I do think the media is a source of great distraction from God. The internet is proof of it for me. I see a direct correlation between my time on the internet lately and my time with God... my limited free time in grad school has been filled with the internet, which I don't think is very good. Now, If I could just be have enough motivation and self-control to limit my time on the internet I'd be golden... I think cutting it out would be way too extreme for me...
When TV/Internet does not become a "God" in one's life I think we're on the right track.
I'm so glad you brought this topic up!
Prayers for you and yours!
When Will started seminary, we cut out cable and only have the $9 "basic" package which includes FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC, TBS, PBS, and for some reason, like 6 infomercial stations (weird). It was tough at first to live without ESPN (poor Will), TLC, and HGTV, but after a while, it became so normal that I sometimes forget there are other channels out there. Somehow, I still manage to spend way too much time in front of the TV watching things that aren't even interesting...just for the sake of watching. Your post has encouraged me to try and cut back and spend time on more important things. Hopefully, I'll be successful!!
Thank you to all of you who took the time to write such thought-provoking comments. I think your suggestions are fantastic and I'm going to try to implement some of them in our little corner of the world. Blessings to all of you in your efforts to tune out and tune into the season!
Well, we do have a t.v. but once after reading a book I disconnected the t.v. for 7 months. This included the vcr/dvd player too.
But then Lord of the Rings came out and we just had to see it. So we connected everything and we've been watching t.v. ever since.
But after the 7 month fast from the television we were changed persons.
Now, the kids normally only watch videos. And they DON"T watch t.v. everyday. Normally on Friday evenings and/or Sat. mornings.
We do have over 100 channels but that's only because dh needs cable internet to work from home. Even though we have all those channels, we've yet to see any shows on the regular channels like NBC, CBS, etc. We don't watch news. We don't follow t.v. series. I've NEVER seen LOST. *gasp*
If anything we just rent from Blockbusters and watch t.v. in the evenings about 2 times a week.
Having lived without the t.v. we saw we could do it but I still like all the educational videos out there. And when dh is traveling its sometimes nice to curl up on the couch and watch a chick flick.
We also do family movie night about once a month.
All in moderation.
But there are weeks when I'm ready to throw it out! LOL!!
Great conversation; so much so I thought I'd make one of my rare postings. (it's also a nice way to avoid working on my paper for class!!)
I think there are really two different issues involved here: (1)parenting and the t.v., and (2) parents and the t.v. It seems to me the first is much easier than the second.
With the kids, you simply don't turn it on and lovingly tell them 'no' when they beg and plead. For example, I think you do a great job with this B-Mama. Little M's "obsession" with t.v. usually takes the form of shifting passions for a particular video-du-jour. This week it is the Baby Einstein "Baby Moves" dvd. It is 30 minutes long and shows images of children and their parents smiling and playing to a soundtrack of classical music. I'll take that kind of tv any day. What's more, he's lucky if he gets to watch it once a day.
But he constantly asks to watch it, and he can get rather worked up when mom or dad says no. Obviously kids act that way when denied all sorts of things they like. But I do think that behavior shows how dangerous and consuming media entertainment can be for kids if parents don't tow a tight line.
There's no magic formula for the right amount of time or the right type of shows we let the kids watch. Like kellie and others, as a family we usually stick to kids dvds and sports. It's fun, and I love the time we spend together when watching good programming. It's just important to turn it off when the time is right and be firm when the kids protest. As people have said, all things in moderation.
The MUCH tougher nut to crack is controlling the tv viewing when the kids go to bed. It's been a long day and you want to relax a little. The tv is right there and, hey, there's always something on that will be interesting or entertaining. You think, "Ok, I'll just watch 30 Rock, then I'll turn it off." Next thing you know, you've watched that, followed by the Office, followed by Scrubs, and then you click over to another channel and start watching the stupid Barbara Walters "10 Most Fascinating People of 2007" special. WHAT?!! Why the heck am I watching Barbara Walters?! How did it suddenly become 11:00pm and I still have to study for the exam/wash the dishes, etc? That's the trap.
Ultimately, it's about discipline. I need to be as firm with myself as I am with the kids when they beg and plead to keep watching. But that can be HARD! I suppose only prayer, patience, and practice can really solve the problem.
Setting the conditions for success can be a big help, though. People have made some good suggestions. I love lara's in-laws' practice of putting the tv in a room away from the heart of the home. That's not always possible in a smaller house, but I plan on doing something like that when we move. For a small house, I suppose the best bet to to de-emphasize the tv's prominence in the space it sits. I also like the suggestion of keeping the channels to a minimum (bye-bye satellite), and being very deliberate in the shows to be viewed (avoid the TiVo trap).
TV can be a great tool for family fun and togetherness, and personal enjoyment. I guess the trick is to contol it and not let it control me.
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