Don't you just love it when research confirms your prejudices.
The BBC reports research demonstrating that watching TV is bad for kids.
Apart from it being a statement of the bleedin' obvious, I was naturally gratified to read this, having denied my kids TV all their lives.
They don't seem too deprived: Ant is at a top University studying Maths haven got straight As at A level as well as being an active sailor, climber, frisbee player (!) etc etc; Bernie has just got distinction in her grade 8 flute, top marks in her A Level Art course work, is working on grade 7 piano, and has an active social life; and so on...
Their horizons don't seem to me to have been too limited by depriving them of Neighbours and Coronation Street...
I was interested to see that it is the attention span issue that is highlighted here: I have long thought this the structural problem of TV - regardless of the quality and content of the programmes.
4 hours ago
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3 comments:
Well my eldest is just about to qualify as a doctor, the second on target for a First in English age 20 etc etc & we have TV..they all practice their faith..I expect they don't watch much having to share one super duper TV..which we will be using for our new Catholic Film Club..so we prefer to have a TV so they don't get too excited at their friends houses..you can tell which children don't have TV when they visit..they can't take their eyes off the screen...sorry..we allow them sweets too!
Your kids sound a credit to you. And you're right about the risk of kids with no TV becoming addicted.
But I stick to my view that TV is not an essential part of a kid's upbringing or family life, and more often than not does more harm than good...
Re. the argument that if children from a TV-free house go to one that has the box, they'll be glued to thing. Not my experience at all. Usually they'll watch for a few minutes but then get bored and reconnect with their surroundings, muttering "stupid". They've never been warned off TV, we just don't have one. But then we go to Mass unlike many of our friends. I suppose our children have learnt the courage to be different. TV has become such an alienating experience for anyone not drip fed a daily diet. It is completely unsubtle and "in-yer-face", and this has changed since I gave up TV 8 years ago. I always find it a salutary reminder on those rare occasions when I have to endure TV in the same room as me at how fast downhill it is careering. Jackie, I think you make a valuable point when you say your children probably don't watch that much. When I was a boy the telly started at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and had an epilogue and...CLOSEDOWN! Can you imagine the shrieks of protest at the very concept now?
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