TV and bad behavior

If you have time to read Nurture Shock, it is a helpful book on child psychology/development. One section/chapter is on TV’s effect on children. It’s fascinating.

My daughters now senior high, had extremely limited tv in toddlerhood, none as really young babies verging on toddling – and then at the age of about 6 – they watched a monthly video with us, something appropriate for their age and generally nature related.  We continued this throughout their formative and growing years, and now they seldom watch tv – maybe the news or a documentary and the occasional movie, mostly literature based or academic in nature.  They have always been voracious readers and have had the greatest imaginations, are innovative and think outside the box.  They do not care about fashions, makeup or any of the latest fads and it is in large part I think due to the fact they did not become passive watchers of tv, instead they became children who knew how to do things and were always finding things to do to entertain themselves, either outside or in.  I asked them this morning if they thought they had missed out – and they said not at all – they think they have more hobbies and interests because they were not attached to the tube, or x box type things.  Just our experience, but I am glad they are the way they are.  Linda

We began limiting TV about 3 years ago. I wouldn’t say my children had “bad” behavior whenever they watched a show. It was more like they had short attention spans. I didn’t realize how much TV contributed to this until I learned about CM, began homeschooling, and trying to teach the habit of attention. That’s when it occurred to me, “Hey, maybe these high-action, loud, music-filled, upbeat shows aren’t the best thing to help my children pay attention to our books…”

I know some people try to wean off TV, because it really is an addiction for some families (not saying it is for yours, though). We just quit cold turkey. One day it was on, the next day it was off. It took some adjusting for my children. It took a couple of weeks of them asking, “Can we watch a show now?” over and over, and me saying “No.” over and over for them to get the hint that TV was a thing of the past.

It’s no wonder our children have a hard time sitting still, paying attention, or finding a big book with few or no pictures interesting. Most of what’s on TV and movies trains their brains to crave high-action, brightly colored, fast-paced shows. Then we try to slow down and read a fine piece of literature, and they just don’t know what to do with it. 

I know every family has to do what’s best. For us, that was eliminating all “kid” shows, including Veggie Tales, Little Einsteins, all Disney shows, and most Disney movies. Now, the only thing we really watch are old episodes of Little House on the Prairie. Dh has watched a few episodes of Andy Griffith with the kids, but I’m not a huge fan, so I leave that to him. I don’t mind allowing the kids to watch some of the original Winnie-the-Pooh, but the new stuff is just junk, IMO.

Our family life is also a lot better since we haven’t had a cable or satellite subscription in several years. Not to mention, it’s less expensive! And since my kids don’t thrive on watching TV all the time, they really do treat it as a TREAT, which is should be. They are more imaginative, play longer by themselves and together, and they no longer ask about movies. 

Hope that helps,

Lindsey

I’m right there with Lindsey but I took waaayy longer to catch on!  Its been on my conscience for a while about my dc’s viewing habits and how ds6 wouldn’t look at books. We too have finally cut the cord so to speak. We’ve never had a cable/satellite dealio but we would check out movies from the library and also had a pretty good collection of our own. And they watched a lot of PBS cartoons. But it was just too much.

I have to agree to with the fact that each child is different. My sis in law’s family has the TV on a lot, but her kids will watch for a bit and then they’re off playing – and mostly outside! My kids, however, would watch for days on end if you let them :(.