My Child Doesn’t Watch Television
I mentioned in my 2011 goals that I didn’t want Ella to watch any television.
For me, television means anything that comes through a TV screen – movies, television, Netflix, etc.
I think when I make a blanket statement like “No television for Ella” that some people might take it to mean I’m deeply anti-television and think people who let their children watch a lot of shows are negligent monsters or that children who watch TV are going to grow up to be brainless zombies.
In fact, none of those are really true.
There are two main reasons that I feel strongly about my child not watching television:
- I personally cannot stand the sound of the television playing in the background. I didn’t grow up in a television watching house (which is one reason that for me when I say “television,” I usually mean “movies”), and the constant noise of it just gives me a headache.
- I know that I’m a pretty lazy person and if Ella starts getting into television, it will be hard for me to not turn it on any time I want to read or cook or waste time on the Internet. So, I just don’t even want her to know it’s an option.
And it’s not like Ella has no screen time. She occasionally plays with my phone while we’re driving (this seems to go in spurts – sometimes she wants it almost every trip and sometimes we go weeks without her asking for “babies”), she uses the Tumblebooks program from our library’s website (where it reads books aloud to her), and she continues to love the Christmas digital advent calendar my in-laws gave us last year (which is why many mornings this summer, I have dressed for triple digit heat with “Once in Royal David City” and “Jingle Bells” playing from my living room).
So, do I demand that we leave someone else’s house if their television is on? No. Has Ella watched ten or fifteen minutes of a show at a friend’s house here and there? Certainly.
But for now, Ella continues to have no idea what the giant black screen in our living room does. And that’s just the way I like it.
I have found myself steering clear of TV. Movies occasionally, a DVR'd program every so often, going to a movie theater sometimes for date night, but…yeah. It's much less part of my life now than it ever has been before. And I'm still okay!
Growing up we didn't have "TV" and were only allowed to watch one movie on Saturday night while my Mom put my and my sister's hair in ping spongy curlers. For years the only movie we had was Disney's "Robin Hood" with the foxes and lions and whatnot. And guess what, I turned out okay! 🙂
xox
Hannah watches TV with Joel in the mornings and I don't love it, but I also really want to sleep during that time and I don't want to make a big deal out of it since he's getting ready for work and watching her (and he has always watched TV in the morning). We don't watch any during the day because 1) we have no cable, and 2) she doesn't pay attention, and the noise bothers me. I wonder how things will change when she actually becomes interested in TV… some afternoons I would kill to just sit down and watch How to Train Your Dragon, but she is having none of it! Except for pushing all the buttons on the receiver. She is REALLY into that.
I admire that you've made that decision. My son and his wife are 'anti-tv' for their twins, who are now 3. Except, of course, like you, if they are at someone's house. I'm really proud of them.
I think this is an awesome standard to stick to. She will inevitably get her screen time, like you said, through phones and as you walk through any sort of public place… no need to make it the norm at home. I have found with my infant that sometimes I have a hard time getting things done and the TV is a great distraction (of course!). Though this doesn't happen all the time, I am always interested in knowing what other moms do as an alternative. We've obviously got to have two hands every once in a while, and sometimes it is at a time when Cannon really wants interaction.
Television is part of our culture. I raised my children with the freedom to watch PG shows on TV and guess what they often choose to do other activities. I have to say as a public school teacher many standardized tests refer to the popular culture ie television shows on many test questions. Be prepared for your children to feel left out as teens. I think that you desire to be free of the noise is very legitimate I hate the background noise of football games. I think you should be more moderate and let your child choose shows that are age appropriate as she becomes older. Use it as a tool for incentives. If you cut your child out of the mainstream that creates other problems. Watching computer games on your cell phone is another type of media (visual stimulation) just a newer version. Just an old ladies opinion.
We don't have cable. I watched very little TV 18 months ago when I changed jobs, and then my work hours were incompatible with staying up late, so I quit altogether. We watch movies from Netflix, we watch football, and I watch TV with the subtitles on at the gym while I run. When people find out we don't have cable, they frequently say, "But what do you DO in the evenings?"
Around here, people use the "we don't watch TV" thing as bragging rights. It turns into "we don't watch TV" versus "we don't even HAVE a TV" versus "we watch TV but only in French and my toddler is already fluent." I'm very glad that my kids are past the age where the playground mothers try to one up each other.
Mine watched very little TV as toddlers. When my daughter was born, my son watched it (he was 2) because I was exhausted. You do what you have to do to survive. During the school year they watch almost none during the week. Between homework and sports and stuff, there is almost no time.
I don't think a little age appropriate television is a bad thing, but I do think there is a lot of crap on TV and it's way too easy to overdo it.
Your reasons for not letting your child watch TV are so stupid, irrational and uncivilized lol