| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Juliekay |
Posted - Apr 09 2004 : 07:30:51 AM
How many of you have given up or severely limit your exposure to television? And what do you think are the results positive or negative of doing so?
I have not had TV for 9 months. I don't currently own one and couldn't get reception or hook up to cable if I did. I find I have a lot more time to get things done.
Just curious
Julie |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Nov 18 2004 : 05:19:43 AM
I agree, TV is a time waster. And someday we will look back on our lives and wonder why we spent so much time just watching inane stuff. TV could be so wonderful if it was used to teach and inform, and thank goodness there are a few progrmas like that. I never turn on the TV during the day while I am at home. It goes on after dinner for an hour or two. Interesting that my daughter was never really addicted to the TV. Even as a child, she would turn it off after a program or two.
Thanks for the link to the article, Clare. You are so informed....how do you find all these interesting links?
jpbluesky
Love those big blue skies and wide open spaces. |
| Idahospud |
Posted - Nov 17 2004 : 8:57:34 PM
We haven't had TV reception of any kind for over 3 years now. It has been WONDERFUL! We do have a VCR and DVD player to watch the occasional movie, but it's not a big attraction around here. A few weeks ago, the batteries went dead in the remote, and no-one was bothered enough to replace them for over a week--they just found other stuff to do. I think that not having TV has made my kids more creative and more apt to play together; also, since we homeschool, I love not having the distraction. It does make us a little out of the loop when it comes to some of the pop culture stuff--I have never seen American Idol or Survivor, for example.
Sometimes I think back to when we have TV and I wonder how I got anything done! It is such a time waster. |
| Clare |
Posted - Nov 17 2004 : 11:39:07 AM
Heres's a link to a good article about one family's experience of being tv-less.... http://www.stretcher.com/stories/04/04sep27g.cfm
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| n/a |
Posted - Oct 04 2004 : 6:25:19 PM
Well ladies and gentlemen my daughter has just finished day eight with no t.v. and is doing fine. I think my hubby is more upset than she is. Although she doesn't quite understand what's going on and asks very mournfully, "Will I never get to watch ANYTHING EVER AGAIN?". Phew, it's hard to break habits.
Pieces of the moon dancing |
| bramble |
Posted - Oct 04 2004 : 08:06:14 AM
Morning eveybody! Gorgeous and nippy here with threats of the temp dipping into the 40's tonight! Cant't get husband to but we have limits for our son;no more than 2 hours for tv, video games or computer (unless school related). Sounds like alot ? In actuality with all his activities and friends he has a hard time getting 45 minutes in! He started middle school and the activities are endless! It was inconceivable to me that ALL the children he went to elementary school with had TV/VCR/DVDs in their rooms as well as computers! I've heard it explained that atleast the kids don't fight about what they watch anymore! What about family time, cooperation, learning compromise and tolerance? We had one tv growing up and what was watched was determined by your turn or favorite night! I can remember special permission on Thursday nights to "stay up" past 8:00 to watch That Girl and that was a huge deal to me! There are few things on that elicit that sort of anticipation. I still like PBS and Masterpiece Theatre (usually...) I just read Barbara Kingsolver's
Small Wonders and she has two essays about tv . One she refers to it as the one eyed monster and explains why her children still do not have a tv in their home. The other she explains that due to the lack of televised media horrors and network programming there are no murders in her home! These both really hit home for me because I have been very cautious in what my son was allowed to watch or see at the movies and we never had nightmares/ terrors and he slept a peaceful blissful sleep that children ought to! It's a little harder these days but I am still watchful and if something is questionable I will watch with him and determine appropriateness myself! Well I guess you know know how I feel on this HotTopic! Going out in the sunshine now! Bramble |
| coffeebabe |
Posted - Oct 04 2004 : 06:33:04 AM
I haven't had TV for years now. I have a 12 yr old daughter, and frankly, we don't miss it. We really don't have time to watch anyway, what with her homework schedule and my work schedule. When I go somewhere where they do have on and it's on I am appalled by all the violence that is on. I remember when I was 11, and Bobby Kennedy was shot - they showed it on TV, and I remember really feeling shocked, as if I had been there - that's how powerful it felt.
Now that kind of displayed violence is commonplace and people are numb to it. (What is wrong with THAT picture!?)
Occasionally I miss the home & garden shows, or Discovery, but I can usually get videos at the (free) library and watch those.
coffeebabe |
| Denise |
Posted - Oct 03 2004 : 7:34:38 PM
All of this rings so true for me. I took a couple of years off and traveled around, etc. Essentially there was no modern media available to me at all for about 2 years. It was so wierd when I "plugged back in" that all the stories and events sounded and looked exactly the same as they had two years prior! I could also just feel the stress creeping back into my body the first few weeks... then poof! I was numb again. All the stories seemed new and exciting and I couldn't (and to some degree still can't) get enough of it. My husband is hooked on movies and we get free cable (error by the cable company), which makes the decision to chuck our TV more difficult.
I was raised on 1 hour of TV a day and that was it. I try to keep myself to that or 1 movie total each day. Plus with the baby now, we waffle every week about what we want to put in his brain in the coming years. Like Tracy said, we don't want our son to not understand what is going on in popular culture...but then again, maybe we do since most of it is instant-everything and he can jump in anytime.
Ironically too, there was a MOVIE by Michael Moore, "Bowling for Columbine," where Canadians talk about about how, even though they literally live just on the other side of the border, they leave their doors unlocked and feel very safe at home and out and about. They chalked it up to the fact that their media was less violent and scary than ours and so was their perception of reality.
In any case, in our attempt to wean ourselves a bit, we purchased the XM Satellite Radio set up and LOVE IT. It has hundreds of channels - including music, old time radio show, kids stories, and news, etc. We find ourselves more able to turn the TV off when we know we can turn on something just as entertaining, but more relaxing. It's amazing that, all of a sudden, we have more free time! Our eyes can focus on each other, books, dishes, etc.
But now I am on-line more... how's that?
Denise
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| cecelia |
Posted - Sep 13 2004 : 5:50:27 PM
Ah, the media debate still rages on...TV or not...news shows vs. history/culture...frankly I think if it came down to it I'd chuck the TV entirely, but perhaps it's just the programs I'm talking about, not to mention the commercials. We do not watch TV per se, I have no idea what shows are on now, though I used to watch some when I was single (yes Dave, in winter only); now except for PBS, and many of their shows are repeats, we use the TV as a conduit for the video or cd player, with library tapes & cds. I prefer to read but it's difficult to do anything else while you're reading. As far as news, I prefer radio to TV, though in some situations I watch - i.e. the 9/11 story, hurricanes, weather, etc. I wonder if anyone else here listens to shortwave radio? I bought one about 15 years ago, and listen less now than I did when I was single (I sense a theme here....) you don't need to speak a foreign language to listen, many programs are in English, lots are music, and Dave, the reception in our area is best in Fall & Winter - has to do with the atmospheric conditions. I do agree with Tracy regarding news scaring us - they love to do that here with winter storms, but when you live here for 50+ years you kind of know what to suspect just by looking at the sky. I still have Walden Pond dreams, and would love some day to hole up in a cabin somewhere with nothing but the radio and books...
Cecelia
ce's farm |
| n/a |
Posted - Sep 13 2004 : 1:15:44 PM
Hey folks, I hear what all of you are saying with regard to the media keeping us all hyped up about scary situations however in some circumstances ignorance is NOT bliss. I understand the statistics quoted above "600 kids a year" are abducted, but the other 599 don't really matter if yours is the other ONE taken away from you. I only have one child and I tried for years to have her and almost lost her at birth, I would never chance losing her by sending her off to play alone. Maybe when she's older and has friends to keep her company but at the age of five she's going to be supervised. I don't want you all to think that I'm some crazy overprotective mother because her father is WAY worse than I am. Hahahahahaha. In any event I too try to stay away from the news programs because I hardly ever see anything that makes me smile.
Pieces of the moon dancing |
| sourjayne |
Posted - Sep 01 2004 : 4:05:06 PM
I haven't watched TV in probably a year, minus once or twice when at a friend's and it was on in the background. I also haven't listened to any radio, commercial or non-commercial, read a paper, or read a news article online. And I *Still* feel like my brain is whirling with information overload. I don't miss it all one bit.
I don't feel like I'm completely out of it -- I know what the state of affairs is, I know about the election and the politics and the protests. I am alive and awake and I talk to people. If there is information I need, it comes to me. I don't have to sit in front of a tube for hours being pumped full of ads and hysteria to be aware of the world I live in.
"I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it." - Thomas Jefferson
Sarah (sourjayne)
No artificial sweeteners added. |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Sep 01 2004 : 1:18:56 PM
Taylor -
I think you have hit on a key thought. Case in point, I am very afraid of hurricanes. And just watching the weather channel when one is coming (like Frances is right now) I feel my anxiety levels rising dramatically. It will not be here for days! And yet I am fretting. However, I am also trying to fet ready, which is good!
My daughter has stopped almost all TV (she is 25) and is much more peaceful for it. Now, many may say ignorance is bliss, but I do think watching fearful stories and hearing scary news (the news channels are trying to up their ratings and do so by keeping us on the edge of our seats) can place needless anxiety in our lives.
I rode my bike all over the town when I was a kid. Mom just asked that I ride by the house every hour! That limited my circumference and was a good thing. But I had many hours of alone time to create and pretend and notice life on my own terms.
Tv dictates our feelings, and unless used wisely can be harmful. But harmful sells. Why is that?
jpbluesky
Love those big blue skies and wide open spaces. |
| Juliekay |
Posted - Sep 01 2004 : 12:51:35 PM
People freak out about the increase in child kidnappings etc. When you break down the statistics, out of millions of children in the U.S. about 600 per year are actually snatched by a stranger. Most of the molestations, kidnappings etc that happen are perpetrated by a family member. But people pick the thing that is easiest to guard against and focus their attention on it. For example, I walked as a ten year old out to the pool and played there all day. Or I rode a bike. I think people are a bit too paranoid, but also they worry what other people will think of them.
Julie |
| taylor |
Posted - Sep 01 2004 : 12:35:12 PM
Just to get people thinking... I used to be allowed to walk to town, to a friends house, or even ride my big wheel around the block when I was as young as five or six. I played in my yard alone for hours and in the empty lot/field behind my house I built forts. I grew up in Dedham, Mass a close suburb of Boston. My mom wasn't neglectful, she just didn't worry as much as mothers worry today. So I wonder... has crime really increased that much since the early eighties or are we responding to the culture of fear that TV cultivates. Surely, (I remember the milk containers) children were kidknapped and many other bad things happened then too. But now you turn on the tv during news hour and its all you hear about. We are bombarded with the worst case scenario everyday in our living rooms. And I'm not harping on anyone's parenting decisions, I don't have any children yet, but I think it is important to remember how that alone play built our personalities and strengths and what our children might lose if they are not allowed that independence. When I first moved to Moscow I was struck one day by the sight of two small boys walking alone together to the farmers market. stopping to look both ways before they crossed the street and holding hands. I realized I hadn't seen that in a long time and I remembered how I loved that feeling of resposibility as a kid.
6 months with no TV except PBS and DVD rentals!
One of the reason I stopped watching - I wa sick of feelinf afraid all the time.
Taylor |
| Kim |
Posted - Aug 31 2004 : 9:33:41 PM
This website is addicting!!!!! I could stay in front of the computer all day waiting for and responding to new posts!!!
farmgirl@heart
Longaberger Lover and all things antique |
| Sherries Farm |
Posted - Aug 31 2004 : 9:25:27 PM
I just don't see much of anything worth watching these days? Is Sesame Street still on t.v. That was a good show for the kids, but not the Teletubbies or some of the other shows for kids these days. T.V. is not that bad...most of us grew up on it and I feel I am a productive member of society. I remember Captain Kangaroo, the New Zoo Review, Sesame Street, Gilligan's Island, Here Comes the Brides (my favorite). I try to get the kids interested in the hands-on history shows that PBS puts out each year, i.e. Quest for the Sea, The Farmers Wife, etc.
DH also is a t.v. watcher/channel flipper with the remote control. Though he does seem stuck to the t.v., on weekends when the weather is nice, the kids have to give up t.v. and computers for the day. They end up finding a book to read, draw or run around out back on our property. Gives them time to use their imagination.
Imagination is what is lacking these days as the new generation of kids emerge. I can only hope that some of my "non-t.v." time will help my children when they become parents to make the right choices.
Just my thoughts on the matter....
Sherrie
"When you care enough, you make it yourself."
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| n/a |
Posted - Aug 31 2004 : 5:20:58 PM
Ahh! TV! Barely watch it in Spring, Summer and Fall, but Winter.....that is another story. Living alone is not fun, and I hope to be re-married in 2006 (that is first year that our marriage will not affect my fiance's youngest daughter's financial aid). Most cable companies have a "Life Line" offer, ha, life line?...twelve channels for $7.85/mo., but they usually do not tell you about it, unless you ask. Even then, I find myself watching "Antiques Roadshow on PBS, and documentarys of all sorts, and I do not collect antiques or have any desire to do so, it is just interesting. You can learn a lot of history on that show. Not sure I would ever want to be without TV, but in the last five years of living on my own, I sure do appreciate the time my ex-spouse spent doing the laundry, fixing meals and housecleaning. An hour a day on average for me..... |
| jamie |
Posted - Aug 31 2004 : 2:34:12 PM
Hi Tracy,
Well, it's a difficult question to answer and I think many of us are struggling with the same questions. I don't have children of my own yet so all I can tell you is what I would like to do when I have children. First of all though, just reading the posts here I am inspired to turn off the tv. I can't control what my husband does but I can control what I do. I am choosing to do other activities besides tv. I am going to replace those habits with cleaning, cooking, crafts, taking a walk, visiting with friends, reading that book I've been meaning to, etc. There are a few shows throughout the week that I really enjoy - Martha Stewart on occasion, home and garden shows, etc. I am going to tape those shows during the week and then on the weekend I'll play the tape with the ability to fast forward through the commercials eliminating quite a bit of time there. I realized that my main problem was not the few shows a week that I really cherish and are educational to me but it is all of the other "junk" that you get sucked into. I have found myself just flipping through the channels and there is nothing on yet I can't turn off the tv. So I think that will really help me and only allow myself to watch a few select shows. Also, my most cherished show ever is Little House on the Prairie. I have them all recorded and save them for a rainy day. As far as what I plan to do with my children, I would probably only allow them an hour of tv a night or maybe not any tv until the weekend and then rent a child friendly movie or stick in one of my Little House videos that are very family oriented. I worry about trying to shelter my future children too much as well. I had a friend growing up that wasn't allowed tv or modern music and as soon as he got away to college he went crazy with all of the freedom. I think you have to find a balance and only you can determine what's best for your children. As far as learning other cultures, there are many ways to do that instead of watching tv. You could take her to museums, theater, travel if money allows, go to the library and read books to hear about other cultures. Take that opportunity to not only bond with each other but learn at the same time.
Ok enough said from me.
Good luck and hope that helps,
Jamie |
| n/a |
Posted - Aug 31 2004 : 1:50:21 PM
Boy is this a huge issue for me!! My four year old daughter attends a waldorf school. I don't know how much you all know about this educational philosophy but they are really anti-media in all forms but especially anti-tv. I have gone back and forth so many times because I definitely understand the harmful effects that have been reported but as someone else mentioned my husband won't even consider not watching tv. I also worry about my daughter not having the same cultural background as most others in her age group. I don't mean now but in the future. I have a good friend who grew up in a commune with no tv and she has no idea what most people are talking about when they make comments that have a basis in tv such as "yada yada yada" from Seinfeld. She doesn't have the same life that I had growing up. I would never allow her to walk down the street to play with a friend or even just be alone in the yard so what are her options? At least on tv she is exposed to people from all over the world and cultures etc. Okay I'm just rationalizing aren't I? I'm interested in what you all have to say about all this.
Tracy
Pieces of the moon dancing |
| cecelia |
Posted - Aug 28 2004 : 1:52:40 PM
We have not had cable for about 8 years - don't miss it at all. Ther price (Adelphia) was getting too high (about $45 a month for basic, and that was 8 years ago). We purchased a new TV a couple of years ago, the old one "went". We only watch a few news shows, mostly PBS, I have no idea what programs are on. I can't carry on a conversation with anyone, it seems, because I don't know what they're talking about! My son like to watch some old shows (Star Trek, etc.) and sports, but my hubby & I mostly use the TV so we can watch old movies on video and DVD, which we usually borrow from the library.
Cecelia
ce's farm |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Aug 28 2004 : 12:32:21 PM
Hi all -
My husband and I are going to a cabin in North Carolina for a week in September. The info we got said it has no TV reception, but there is a DVD player?VCR. We both mentioned it to each other after reading the info sheet. Then I thought back to the times in my 20's when I would take off for a week in the mountains, and no TV and no phone would not even cross my mind as important. In fact, that is one reason why I loved going. So easy then, yet startling now. Why I wonder?
Hibby and I watch less TV now, because the TV is a vast wasteland of non-creativity....not really that bad, but getting there, especially in prime time. We love PBS, and we have enjoyed the Olympics. But Clare and Jenny have the right idea - gradually change your habits, and save TV for the really important times in the world, or for shows that have redeeming qualities.
We have been doing that. I am home all day, but rarely turn on the TV then (unless there is a hurricane coming!) We watch in the evenings after dinner is over and the dishes are done.
And I have only the basic cable package - spending so much $ on TV is easy to do. I have one friend that paid $200.00 to get all the baseball games he wanted! But he newly lives alone, and I am sure it is helpful for him right now.
Keep cutting back and soon you will wonder at how little you get drawn in!
jpbluesky
Love those big blue skies and wide open spaces. |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Aug 28 2004 : 09:23:07 AM
This is something I am really working on now too. I tended for quite awhile to have the tv as background noise and that is not really the background sounds I want my life to have. During the day I turn the radio on the local channel and it is a much better background. I don't have any favorite shows really except for Trading spaces..so I watch it now and then when I think to catch it. Now, the rest of my family is another story all together. The kids that are still at home are easy for me to control tv wise. First of all I set extreme limits on the available channels..with the blocking thing, and the tv that they watch the most..in the family room is blocked to go off at 8pm, so that makes bedtime easy. They are only allowed one hour of approved tv until they have to turn it off and either go outside and play or read for at least 2 hours..with school started again that really helps. About a year ago I made the rule that no tv can be turned on until all the kids beds are made and rooms straightened up. That has helped too. So I am gradually weaning them from it. My husband is for sure the most addicted and I am working on that one.
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
| Clare |
Posted - Aug 28 2004 : 08:02:42 AM
Hi Jamie... it's called 'awakening' and I think you're smack dab in the middle of it. Good for you!
I'll offer up a few of my thoughts here for your consideration, but it is such an individual thing, and you have to consider DH too.
I started cutting way back on tv in the mid-80's. It started with the evening news. That was a staple when I was growing up in the 60's..., but for me in the 80's.. it was just plain depressing. And since I was working full time and then picking up my daughter from daycare... this was the time that I tried to carve out to catch up with her and spend quality time together. So that was my first step. No news. Then I got so I just wasn't interested in those brainless sitcoms in the evening... So you just kind of build up to weaning yourself from the normal routine. Create other priorities.. like evening walks, or have one night a week with DH that is reading night, etc... Create little niches of time, alone and together that gradually change your habits. Now, I must admit I have not cut out tv entirely. I REALLY enjoy my PBS stations. But that quality of tv is much different than the other gazillion stations that are out there. I don't look at a tv guide, but with my subscription to the PBS station, I do get their program guide monthly, so that lets me know of things of interest that I can make note of. I specifically have chosen to have only 'basic' cable... which is about 15 stations, including PBS... why waste money on junk I won't be watching... I tried going without cable, and it was fine, except in my valley the reception for PBS was very fuzzy, so I decided to go back to cable. That can be one of the things you do first too... cut way back on your cable package. Many evenings I just do not even turn the tv on at all. Put some relaxing music in the stereo instead, and cook a fun dinner together with your husband. Getting involved in joint tasks is fun.... and you might have conversations together that you've only imagined! I often with not turn on anything at all upon arriving home. After being in a busy office all day, I just need quiet... time to think, which when doing a methodical task like knitting, or sewing, or even cleaning, can become a meditation time. I have lots of trees in my yard, so even though I don't turn on anything I'm always serenaded by birdsong... which I can only hear if all extraneous noise in the house is off... makes me appreciate nature more to let their songs surround me. If you live in house, get outside into your yard and putter...think of garden/flower things you can do outdoors. If you're in an apartment or condo... sit and read on the patio, or go for that walk in the neighborhood...
Just making a conscious decision to change a habit is the first major step in doing so. Time for the shoe motto: JUST DO IT!! 
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
| jamie |
Posted - Aug 28 2004 : 07:33:07 AM
I get so much inspiration from you folks. I have been struggling for quite some time to have tv or not. Growing up on the farm I was always busy outside playing and working that I never really watched tv. In fact, my cousins that live a few miles cross country from us didn't have a tv. It wasn't until I got away and went to college that the addiction started setting in. My friends would have get togethers to watch certain shows like "must see tv" on Thursday nights. Before I knew it I was all consumed in the tv and basically (I hate to admit this) as soon as I get home from work in the afternoon I turn it on and it's on until probably 10pm when I go to sleep and sometimes it lulls me to sleep at night. So probably an average of 5 hours a day. That's 35 hours a week!! 1825 hours a year!!!!!!! Some of you are probably in shock right now as I am also. Now granted, many times I am picking up around the house, laundry, cooking while the tv is on or during commercials but there are also days when I come home and sit down in front of the tv and become hypnotized as if the energy is sucked out of me. I'm not trying to be melodramatic but it's the truth. So, after reading your posts and MaryJanes article in the second to last magazine I'm reevaluating things here in my household. Just imagine what I could accomplish with 35 hours a week. I could get to those books I've been wanting to read, take that walk, talk to a friend on the phone (although all of my friends are tv junkies also and I don't want to interupt their tv  )
For those of you that used to be in my situation, how did you stop or cut down? My husband enjoys tv as well so it is not as easy as just unplugging the darn thing. Is it best to quit cold turkey or only allow certain times or shows? I'm always afraid that I'm going to miss something educational or entertaining by keeping the tv off. Does that make sense. It's the fear of the unknown in a way.
Thanks for reading my ramblings,
jamie |
| jamie |
Posted - Aug 28 2004 : 07:30:58 AM
I get so much inspiration from you folks. I have been struggling for quite some time to have tv or not. Growing up on the farm I was always busy outside playing and working that I never really watched tv. In fact, my cousins that live a few miles cross country from us didn't have a tv. It wasn't until I got away and went to college that the addiction started setting in. My friends would have get togethers to watch certain shows like "must see tv" on Thursday nights. Before I knew it I was all consumed in the tv and basically (I hate to admit this) as soon as I get home from work in the afternoon I turn it on and it's on until probably 10pm when I go to sleep and sometimes it lulls me to sleep at night. So probably an average of 5 hours a day. That's 35 hours a week!! 1825 hours a year!!!!!!! Some of you are probably in shock right now as I am also. Now granted, many times I am picking up around the house, laundry, cooking while the tv is on or during commercials but there are also days when I come home and sit down in front of the tv and become hypnotized as if the energy is sucked out of me. I'm not trying to be melodramatic but it's the truth. So, after reading your posts and MaryJanes article in the second to last magazine I'm reevaluating things here in my household. Just imagine what I could accomplish with 35 hours a week. I could get to those books I've been wanting to read, take that walk, talk to a friend on the phone (although all of my friends are tv junkies also and I don't want to interupt their tv )
For those of you that used to be in my situation, how did you stop or cut down? My husband enjoys tv as well so it is not as easy as just unplugging the darn thing. Is it best to quit cold turkey or only allow certain times or shows? I'm always afraid that I'm going to miss something educational or entertaining by keeping the tv off. Does that make sense. It's the fear of the unknown in a way.
Thanks for reading my ramblings,
jamie |
| teripittman |
Posted - Apr 17 2004 : 12:04:14 AM
We did without tv for eight years, but have it now. DH probably like it more than I do, because I can always read a book. I generally watch a quick hour of Fox news in the morning and maybe Dennis Miller at night. There's not really anything that I have to watch. We don't watch any sitcoms at all. |
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