How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Born in 1965 and this was me, too -- just a bit later. TV was pretty much always on. I had no enrichment of any kind. My public high school offered 3 AP courses (Calculus, English and World History). I graduated with a 3.5 GPA/1390 SAT and went to Rice. Where tuition was $3,200 a year. Different times. |
Anonymous
|
I watched a lot of TV in the 80s. But I still had to deal with boredom and make my own fun constantly. We commuted by subway daily—no iPad. Waiting at the doctor’s office—no iPad. Supermarket shopping…you get the idea.
It’s not just screen time that’s an issue these days. It’s the addiction of using it as a crutch and distraction. |
Anonymous
|
But how much TV was there, really? Even on days you were home sick, there was Price is Right and that was about it. Saturday mornings had cartoons but nothing was on demand and there were far fewer channels. (I'm 44, so I'm old but not that old!).
I didn't do enrichment stuff but neither do my kids now, I think it's silly unless you need help with something, in which case having a tutor makes perfect sense. None of the kids in our friend circle do stuff like that now either. Sports, yes. Tutoring, if needed. But Kumon? I don't know a single person who does something like that. |
Anonymous
|
I grew up in another country. I can watch unlimited tv if I wanted because I was just stuck at home with no classes/tutoring/enrichment/playdates. It was public school teacher's job to teach us and make sure that we learn materials. They gave us homework, quiz, test, exam etc to monitor our performance. I remember one teacher asked everyone in the classroom to come to school on Saturdays to study in front of her. I remember one pregnant teacher begged us to study hard for college entrance exams or else she may die with baby in tummy out of anger and frustration. At the end, every one went to college with teacher pushing. Parents expect and rely free public school education to educate students. They got no extra pay for doing all these extra works, and we don't have teacher appreciation week. Gifting gifts to public school teacher is prohibited. I miss my teachers back in my home country that do extra miles on their own. We never have a shortage of publuc school teachers in my hometown.
I am disappointed in public school system in MoCo. In america, we have to shower teachers with gifts and special days and hope that they are nicer to our kids. |
Anonymous
|
I was born in 1981 to a middle class family here in the dc area. I watched tons of tv. I think the tv was on all day sometimes. Sometimes we would watch fresh prince while eating dinner.
I don’t think that really stopped me and my sister from doing a bunch of extracurricular activities or getting any homework done. It was not forbidden but also didn’t feel like an addiction. We enjoyed it but would not mind doing other things. We did not have enrichment activities but did well in school and moved on to college and graduate school. I think the competitive factor has vastly changed . It’s not the same with social media and phones. I don’t even think once can compare. The state of the world had fundamentally changed on many levels as so many people mentioned here - technology, education , etc etc |
Anonymous
|
University slots have not kept up with increases in the US population plus a higher percentage of international students are now going to US universities compared to 30 or 40 years ago.
So, competition is fierce. Also, something people don't think of is back when you had to mail your application in the postal mail, people simply applied to fewer colleges. With the internet universities and companies are flooded with applications. |
Anonymous
| We self-enriched. |
Anonymous
|
I was raised in the '80s and '90s and I never had unlimited screens.... Even if I did TV sucked and was things like sesame Street and general hospital.
So I was motivated to use my imagination and do things outside which is where I spent 90% of my childhood |
Anonymous
I would guess kids who are naturally good at academics and don’t need endless help and tutoring are the ones who succeed. I was surprised at some of kids who went on to Harvard medical school and MIT. They certainly weren’t at these after school tutoring centers. We carpooled with some of the ones who got into these schools and they had the same schedules as everyone else just all AP classes set them apart. Outside of school you couldn’t tell who had the super brain. |
Anonymous
No it isn't. Having a kid go through high school I can attest that the same level of kids are getting into the same collegs minus perhaps the colleges in the top 10 which have not increased enrollment. Most colleges have increased enrollment and they have the same types of kids at them. Oh and the AP classes have gotten way watered down. |
Anonymous
|
Reading--books and magazines
Read the newspaper every morning with my parents I used to read and do homework while watching TV. I needed white noise but didn't know it was called that Spent a lot of time at friends' houses and observed human nature |
Anonymous
I have found my twin! Another ‘72er here who watched almost all of that too. Esp. The afterschool stuff. I was a latchkey kid and Luke and Laura and Donahue and Oprah were my babysitters. I too went to a top college and grad program. |
Anonymous
| None of my successful and intelligent friends were allowed unlimited tv. |
Anonymous
We didn't have screen time limits, tv/video games because we didn't need them. Even when we did watch alot of TV, it wasn't nearly as much as kids today. The major difference I see is that with kids today, screen time is all they want. |
Anonymous
You know the childhood TV watching habits of all of your adult friends? Don’t you successful and intelligent people have better things to talk about? |