no-tv rule backfired

[Anonymous]

Huh. I raised three kids without a television. It isn't an essential part of childhood. I don't watch it, so we never had one...it may backfire on you, because voracious readers keep books at school, and bored children go into the workshop and learn carpentry, and cost you a fortune in power tools and nice wood....

But it is NOT essential to life.

[Anonymous]

Wow. No screen time at all?

I base my restrictions on what they are watching. I am lucky in that my kids would rather watch a good historical, travel or nature documentary than some of the other crap they are passing off these days. Because that is what DH and I watch (he watches sports also.) Shark Week is a big deal in our house. We allow the kids to watch educational programs when other stuff is complete and we allow them to also watch certain sports programming on weekends. Where we draw the line is the other crap.

[Anonymous]

Nope. None. They could watch it elsewhere. It really wasn't a big ideological thing. I just cannot stand the television. And I have a long standing rule that I don't spend good money to make myself miserable, so we didn't have a tv.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is 7. We have no screen time Monday - Thursday but she can watch as much as she wants Friday - Sunday. It usually doesn't end up being much though because we are out and about so much.

This is our house. And we spent time out, playing family board games (a couple each weekend, DCs are 7 & 9 and they pick the games) and screen time is usually in the evening while we're winding down. They don't feel the need to sneak it and don't really want it much.

This is our house, too. No screen time on M-Th. and weekend homework has to be done before screen time. After that, kids ages 10 and 8 can have as much as they want. It's typically very little unless there's some new Wii game in the house that they just HAVE to get through. I guess because it isn't a power struggle, it also isn't a big deal for them to have to "break" the rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. None. They could watch it elsewhere. It really wasn't a big ideological thing. I just cannot stand the television. And I have a long standing rule that I don't spend good money to make myself miserable, so we didn't have a tv.

This is us too. We're not against TV at all. We just don't feel like spending the money. We watch things online, and we rent DVDs. I never realized it's such an incredibly big deal not to have a TV.

[Anonymous]

op here - surprised to find the thread is still going.

DS watched some sports and cartoon for about one hour total sat/sun, and since there's no school today he got to play 30-min of angry birds.

i'm allowing screen time and expect him to respect the limits. well see.

[Anonymous]

Boys age 8 and 11. They get <30 minutes in the morning watching cartoons and ~30-45 minutes of TV in the evening watching the news or Discovery type channel show with me. They also get about 1 hr to play video games each day after homework is done.

On weekends, it's about the same but we watch a movie on Friday and maybe Saturday night and about 1 hr extra of sports. Plus another hr of video games.

There has been no impact on school...both in GT and still in the top 25% of their class. Both play on sports teams, chess club, music lessons, reading each day, family dinners, etc. Relax and let them enjoy what they like to do within reason.

[Anonymous]

No tv in our house during the school week either, OP. You should rock on! By the time they get home from school, have snack and do homework (yes, even the 2nd grader has homework), it is almost dinner time, and then after dinner it is bed and bath. I find tv is really disruptive in the evening, particularly for our youngest boy -- it makes it really hard for him to settle down at night. Without TV, the kids are talking and playing with each other, engaging in imaginative play or reading or playing games or running around outside.

On the weekend the kids are allowed to have 1/2 hour each per day of tv (and since they both watch each others' shows, it's more like an hour). They are vegetables in front of the TV. They fight about what to watch. They whine for more even when time is up. When they are done with TV they are cranky not happy and whine "what can we do...."

Once I caught our oldest sneaking TV similar to your description. She got in trouble and had other privileges revoked. When you break a rule, there are consequences. It was a valuable experience for her, and about so much more than TV. I trusted her with a privilege and she abused the trust and privilege ... Now that she's older, we've had the same discussion about the cell phone. I think she knows that I'm not kidding that if she abuses her cell phone privileges, it will be taken away. So far, no problems with the phone.

[Anonymous]

OP, I hope your son is not an only child. Otherwise, your home sounds incredibly dull. Poor kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hope your son is not an only child. Otherwise, your home sounds incredibly dull. Poor kid.

Oh BS. Get some perspective. I've got three kids and we watch TV but if you think that TV is what makes a home exciting, you are incredibly limited. And "poor kid"? No way. You need to learn the differences between 'wants' and 'needs'. TV is a want, not a need. You should save your pity for the kids who don't have stable homes and nurturing parents.