I just want to point out that I think it's weird that 2 of my fave bloggers are paired up for this....

 

This all makes perfect sense to me. I watched A LOT of TV as a kid and was also an avid reader and a good student. (I was, however, also chunky, so...) I think limited TV to some extent could make sense, but as you said getting kids to make good choices is the most important thing all around because you can't and won't always be there.

We are holding off until he is two for the TV though. Hard to teach good choices about TV when he is pre-verbal.

 

I was practically raised by a television.

TV isn't inherently harmful.

I was mildly athletic, and I was a good student.

I learned to appreciate classical music from watching Bugs Bunny cartoons (no lie, I really did), I learned about leadership and responsibility from watching Star Trek, I learned about space and astronomy by watching Nova and Cosmos, I learned about aspects of history that I never learned in school, I learned grammar and history lessons from Schoolhouse Rock.

Long story short... TV isn't always bad.

 

Glad you brought this up. We've got a little bit of time to decide when and how much TV the little guy will be watching, at least another year. My husband says none at all but realistically that's not going to happen. Better to have a good plan in place and stick to it. Thanks for the thoughts on it.

 

I agree about having a reasoned, thought-out plan -- wise.

And your point about the younger child is so true. Last night when he was burned out from trick-or-treating, my 2 year old watched Hannah Montana! Uh oh.

 

I am going to send this post to the next person who badmouths me for letting my kids watch TV.

 

I think we're all just doing the best we can. If that means letting my kids watch tv so I can wash dishes and cook supper, so be it.

I watched a lot of TV growing up and earned excellent grades through college.

 

I think you make an excellent argument here Alex. One of the main reasons we've managed to stay away from TV so far is because my kids are little (20 months and 2 months) so it hasn't become too much of an issue as far as peers are concerned. Once they're a little older, however, we'll probably need to re-think things.

Thank god there are smart people (like you!) with older children who have already thought through these things!

 

I don't have a problem with TV per se. I have a problem with people who allow children to sit in front of the TV all the time as a form of babysitting. And yes, there are those types of people out there.

I personally happen to love watching TV at night. We also TiVo everything we watch and hubby and I like to spend some down time each night after the baby has gone to bed watching the programs we like.

I'm torn at the moment, however, as to how much time I allow the TV to be on in my house when the baby is awake. I like to have CNN on in the morning and she shows no interest in it, but when my step father watches golf MJ gets a glazed look on her face ands tares at the screen. That worries me, on many levels. lol

 

A limited amount of tv with age appropriate content is fine.
I don't oppose my children watching tv.
In fact I was allowed to watch quite a bit and must say I do enjoy it myself. Maybe a bit too much in fact. Thus I've limited how much my kids can watch and instead encouraged them to do other things (crafts, coloring, imaginative play, playing with toys/games).

 

My mom let us watch an insane amount of television growing up. I know every Brady Bunch and Monkeys (Monkies?) episode. I watched news I shouldn't have watched. That said I can tune out a television. My husband, who also watched an insane amount of t.v. cannot turn away from a television that is on.

Where am I going with this? Television in moderation and only with consideration to what they are hearing/listening to. I cannot stand that kids at age 6 talk about dating and marriage, because that is what the "big kids" on television do (and I don't let my kids watch those shows, it is what the kids at school talk about). Didn't boys have cooties when we were 6?

Thank goodness for TiVo!

 

We used to have a small B&W TV in the kitchen until I was about 7 or 8. My mom decided that watching quality programs like "Tic Tac Dough" and "Joker's Wild" were not better than family discussions. (She was wrong, of course. Many discussions turned out to be about whether there were boogers in the Kool Aid or not.)

Now I think I will write about this on CUSS tomorrow. Thanks for the excellent idea.

 

This post, on kid empowerment, has been nominated by our readers over at GNMParents for Hot Stuff Of The Week. Congrats, and good luck in the voting!

 

I so agree. My mom was like your mom and I still watch TV. My husband watched lots of TV and still does and is a good person. We just strive for balance. Just wait until you have three kids and who knows what they end up watching :)