Life Without Television
My kids are growing up without TV. I’m not a fanatic that believes TV is the root of all evil. I don’t mind my kids watching TV at a friend’s house, or occasional movie nights at our house. It’s also great when we’re sick and need to rest. We do have a television, but the only time it’s used is to watch the odd VHS video or DVD. In the winter, we often have movie nights, and watch something Disney; but this is just as much a family event as it is TV watching. We pop popcorn, melt butter and sing while we’re getting ready. Then we sit down with a large bowl of puffy white stuff and start crunching and munching. (the kids derived this term!) Whether we watch Mary Poppins or Disney’s Cars, the popcorn makes the movie a movie! We cuddle in blankets and occasionally my daughter will fall asleep in my arms. These are sweet moments which I cherish and remember fondly.
Reading – A Novel Concept
So, why are we very much a television free house? I simply feel that there are better ways for my children to be spending their time, and if you ask them I think they’d agree. Having never had it as a regular part of their daily lives, it’s just not something they think of very often. I find it peculiar when people ask me how I survive without it. I kind of want to turn the question around and ask how they can spend so much time watching it. In those moments when all hell seems to break lose in our house I find the best way to calm the storm is to read a book. Usually if I read them one, they will continue the reading on their own after I leave to go back to my work. My son is an outright bookworm now and I’ve caught him under his covers at night, Dr. Seuss in hand!
I also feel that a lot of the shows out there are pretty lame. Yes, some are educational and very clever, but I’d prefer to be my children’s educator, not have the television do it for me. If I do put on an educational video for them I often watch it with them so that we can talk about it and they can ask questions if need be. The only time I miss a television is when the Olympics are on, and then I’m often at a friends house watching, or live streaming from the computer. My kids are Olympic fanatics as well, at the ripe old ages of 3 and 5.
Fostering Creativity
I find that there have emerged two main benefits of not having television a daily part of our lives. Number one is that my children have become extremely well adept at entertaining themselves when I’m busy. It has fostered a great strength for creativity in them. They will make up theatre plays, perform piano concerts, paint, read or ask me to get out playdoh for them. They always have some idea for entertainment on their minds and thus don’t get bored. They are engaging themselves creatively instead of sitting in front of the monotonous drone of the television screen. When I am making dinner or trying to get some cleaning done, I love to listen in on their play. This is entertainment at it’s finest for me, more little snippets of memories that I cherish. The second benefit is that we save a lot of money each year by not subscribing to cable and all the extras. A penny saved is a penny earned, and since we are on a tight budget, this works for me.
Teach Your Kids to Entertain Themselves
The fact is, the majority of our time is spent outside. If we can be in the forest even better, and if we can bring bikes, well, that’s about as good as it gets! Television or no television, a good dose of intense exercise and fresh air every day is good for the mind and spirit in children and adults alike. I guess what the whole television issue boils down to for me is how we entertain ourselves. I believe that the benefits of not watching regular television far outweigh the benefits of plopping the kids down in front of it so I can accomplish some task I feel needs to be done. Does the television entertain them, do I entertain them, or do I teach them better ways to entertain themselves? My decision has been to teach them creative and fun ways to entertain themselves. Although I have been at my wits end many times and wanted to plop the kids in front of the TV to quiet them (and quite honestly once in a blue moon I do), the creative ways we’ve found to entertain and challenge their young minds have become far more valuable to their development than the television ever could be. The gratification has not been immediate but it has been well worth the ride!
Author Bio: Sherri Downing is a homeschooling mother of two children. She enjoys writing about holistic parenting and the wealth of knowledge she has learned on her parenting journey. She has a passion for creativity and works part time at a music and performing arts studio in the Greater Toronto area. You can contact Sherri at sherri@ecoerth.com
I have a ten year old at home and he watches very little T.V. I like you chose not to use it as a substitute parent. I don’t need to limit it any more as he is just not overly drawn to it. Video games for a short while manged to sneak past me until I realized he had become a pokemon : ) That I limit to not on school nights as well as not all weekend but rather to enjoy when we are not doing something out and about. He does struggle with that as all his friends live inside the box so to speak and rarely leave home without it.
I’m not a T.V. watcher myself and am lucky to see 2 hours a week of it but this computer draws me like a moth to the flame it lets the world in where only family should be. I guess that’s another story altogether : )
Its funny you mention the computer, because that is one thing that I spend a bit too much time on too! Lately I’ve cut back to very little computer usage and it seems to be working out alright so far. We’ll see how long it lasts……;-)
It is hard to make choices that are “outside the box”…..and while my children aren’t really old enough yet to talk to friends about television shows, I know they might struggle with it when they are older, as you say your 10 year old does. We will see in due time……..:-)