My husband and I both watched a lot of television as kids. We were both raised in homes where the TV was on most nights of the week and when we got married, we carried on that tradition. We would plan our week around our favorite shows and when nothing was on, we would catch up on past seasons of sitcoms on DVD. Occasionally we would feel guilty, and "fast" TV for a few weeks, but we always went back to our old habits.
When we had Buddy. we continued our TV watching in the same fashion, only now adding Disney and Nick Jr. to our lineup. As Buddy approached his second birthday, I became more concerned of what we were watching when he was in the room. Even the shows aimed at families seemed to have inappropriate content. Also, his ever increasing desire to watch television bothered me. He was always asking to watch something instead of wanting to play.
My first step toward less television was to remove the TV from the playroom and hide his DVD's from plain view. After a few days, his asking to watch television lessened dramatically. I would allow him to watch 30 minutes per day in the living room when I felt I needed a break. That grew to be less and less, and became more like only once or twice a week..
My own television watching was tapering off as well. I had pretty much stopped watching sitcoms, but loved my HGTV decorating shows. I thought they were harmless, because there was no bad language or sexual content. But after a while, I realized that those shows were making me want things I couldn't afford and making me unhappy with what I had. I stopped watching television altogether a few months ago and you would be amazed at all of the things I have been able to do with the time I had been wasting. People ask me all the time how I get so much done with 2 small children. It's simple...I don't waste time by watching TV.
My husband was a little harder to get on board. He loved his late shows and old sitcom reruns. But our Direct TV contract was up this month and he decided to let it go and join us in not watching television. Now he is able to get a lot accomplished in the evening that he was not doing before. Things like blogging, reading, working on graphic design...still relaxing, but more productive.
We still own a television but are in the process of selling it. We have a computer where we can watch the occasional DVD if we choose. I am so glad that we are doing this now, instead of waiting until our children are older when it would be much harder on them.
If someone were to ask me why we no longer watch television, here are my top 3 reasons:
- TV is a big waste of time. I would rather raise my children to be creative and productive, and to be good stewards of their time. Simply, I want us to LIVE our lives, instead of watching fake people live fake lives as we sit passively in front of a big, glowing box.
- TV shows give us unrealistic expectations of ourselves. I struggled a lot as a teen with my self-image, often comparing the way I looked to the "perfect" celebrities. As an adult, I struggled with keeping up with the lifestyles portrayed by what I saw. I want my children to be content with who they are and what they have and not try to be like the people they are seeing on TV.
- Honestly, there is NOTHING worth watching. As I mentioned before, they are even sneaking in bad language and sexual innuendos in children' programming. Have you ever watched Teen Nick? It is shameful the shows they are targeting toward teens. And it's only going to get worse. I can't imagine what TV will be like when my boys are teenagers.
So those are my reasons. I hope I have encouraged you to examine your own television habits. It's never too late to make some changes. If you think it would be impossible to get rid of your TV, take small steps.
- Each week, decrease the amount your family is watching by 30 minutes.
- Put all of your DVD's in a cabinet or drawer where they are out of sight.
- Say no to shows that do not line up with your family values.
- Come up with creative things to do when you would normally watch TV: board games, crafts, walks, reading.
Before you know it, you won't even miss it!
For more on this subject, I recommend:
Kids & Commercialism by New American Dream
Always,
Amanda
