Reply to Fess up -- how much TV and McDonalds

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Reply to "Fess up -- how much TV and McDonalds"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
I have never seen anyone have health problems from NOT watching TV or eating fast food, but I know lots of examples of the opposite.  So, if my child wants to find out if he is the type of person who can watch TV for hours on end without getting depressed or crabby and/or eat fast food regularly without getting fat, he is going to have to figure that out on his own as an adult: I am not going to be running that experiment on him as a child.[/quote]

Just curious: what are your (and other no-TV posters) plans if when your child gets older starts asking to watch certain things on TV?  You know how it is in school - especially middle school - kids feel like they just have to watch certain shows to fit in, etc.  Will you allow it then?[/quote]

I won't allow shows just to fit in, but I plan to allow TV in minimal and age-appropriate amounts when my son is older.  We have Schoolhouse Rock on DVD, and I plan to allow some Sesame Street (might get the older ones on DVD) and some cartoons.  What I do plan to do is mostly watch TV with my kid and talk about it and avoid commercials.  I'm open to movies and PBS programming (my friend's kid really likes the travel shows, for example).  I am not inherently opposed to watching programs for the sake of the program, it's watching TV to kill time (and having that glazed look come on) or having it on in the background that I really don't like.  My husband (like other people in my own family) is prone to playing video games for too long and having fits when something goes wrong, so I'm going to be pretty alert to that dynamic.

I grew up watching some programs with my parents (Little House, The Muppet Show, Kate & Allie -- just off the top of my head) but I learned a way of watching TV that was to turn it on for a specific show, mute the commercials, and turn it off at the end of the program.  That will be what I'm trying to teach.

Most of my objection to TV for kids is the marketing that goes along with it.  It is not worth it to me to have 1/2 hour of silence in exchange for requests for all kinds of products in the ensuing weeks (both things advertised and with the characters of the show on them).  I don't want my child to be a walking billboard for Disney.  Which is not to say that I don't think some of that is cute or that I think other people shouldn't do xyz.  I know that I have non-mainstream attitudes about marketing and corporations, but I'm the one raising my kid and he is going to learn what we do in our family.  When he's older he can be free advertising for whoever he likes![/quote]

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