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From: pmd@cbscc.UUCP (Paul Dubuc)
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: kids without TV
Message-ID: <5713@cbscc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 8-Aug-85 12:58:50 EDT
Article-I.D.: cbscc.5713
Posted: Thu Aug  8 12:58:50 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 12-Aug-85 21:42:10 EDT
References: <545@tekigm.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories , Columbus
Lines: 73

>	My wife and I have been married for 12 years and the last 6 have
>	been without a TV. We now have a 1 year old daughter. Our minds
>	are firm that we will do without TV for as long as possible. I
>	only know of one other family with two very fine daughters that
>	lived without the Tube. I am courious if there are other families
>	without the one-eyed monster and how well is it going for them.
>	What activities were done in place of this national pasttime?
>	How do the kids survive amoung friends if they don't know what is
>	currently the big sho'? Is living without the box so rare? Even
>	now, I still get queer looks when people find we don't have a TV.
>	( I used to have a couple of portables in the basement that didn't
>	work. My intentions were to make monitors out of them, but I decided
>	to get rid of them also at our garage sale.) I would like to hear
>	any comments about this subject of TVless kids.
>
>   Robert Dexter

First, let me express my heartfelt congratulations on your resolve and
that of your wife.  My wife and I definitely share it.  We have no TV,
and really think it's wonderful.   When you've lived without a TV for
several years you don't miss it.  Also, when you do sit down in front
of one at somebody else's home you really notice what shallow garbage
most of the programming really is.  I'm impatient in front of the TV
(especially the dumb commercials you get bombarded with so frequently).
You also begin to notice how central the TV is to many people's lives.
It provides a constant "stimulant" to the senses and easily takes the
place of more meaningful human interaction.  Without TV we play more games,
read more, and enjoy conversation more.

Where kids are concerned, the strongest temptation is when you see what a
good baby-sitter the TV seems to make.  Kids will sit in front of it for
hours.  But I don't like the influence it has (violence in cartoons,
sexual overtones in a lot of prime time TV, and the consumerism fostered
by commercials, etc.)  I think that most adults don't bother to overcome
these subtile influences by thinking critically about what they are seeing.
How much more will kids?  I definitely think that the small percentage of
good programming on TV does not justify owning one.  (When you do, its
harder to limit your watching to the good stuff.)

The best way to learn to live without a television is to resolve that
you *will* live without it.  This provides more incentive than anything
for you to find more meaningful pastimes for both you and your kids.
That discipline is a spur to creativity in this area.  Interaction with
other kids who watch a lot of TV might be more difficult, but I think
kids can survive that pretty easily and still be the better for it.  Encourge
your kids to read more than watch TV and they'll have some things they're
"up on" that the other kids aren't.  I think reading generally provides
more exercise for the imagination than TV, hence developing it more.
Kids can learn early on that what the crowd does isn't always the greatest
thing and being up on the latest show is no big deal.  They can find
common ground with those kids in other areas, hopefully.  (Your kids
will probably get some TV at a friend's house, anyway;  hopefully much
less than if you owned one yourself.)

One snag is that teachers sometimes make a TV program part of an assignment
for school.  This doesn't seem to happen often enough to cause a big
inconvenience (but I don't have school age kids yet either, this is just
an observation of others, not my own experience).  When it does happen
make arragements to watch at a friend's house or borrow a portable.
Watch the program with your kids and talk with them about it afterwords.
We have considered buying a very small portable for times like this (one
that can be shoved to the back of a closet when it's not being used) but
we can put that off for a while.

Finally, don't be bothered by the queer looks you get for not having
a TV.  What's so bad about being different from everyone else is some ways?
I'm thankful for the advantages that I believe NOT having a TV is giving me.
It can be a lot of fun sometimes ... like when the cable TV sales people
come to your door.

-- 

Paul Dubuc 	cbscc!pmd