Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Welcome to Mothering! › Site help and feedback › Proposing a new Sub-Forum: TV-Free Families
New Posts  All Forums:
 

Proposing a new Sub-Forum: TV-Free Families - Page 5

post #81 of 236
9/27/07 at 11:55am
Another possible topic could be discussions/reviews of related articles/books... right now I'm reading David Elkind's new book and I think there is a lively discussion to be had about it...

Not to mention discussions about books/articles which say "Watching TV with your child -- as opposed to having no TV -- makes them more savvy about media messages, so to be the best parent possible, you really should let them watch at least a little" -- I've come across a few of these and the "expert" cited is almost always related to some 'child media' foundation (i.e., a shill for media corporations) and not at all an impartial party.

Anyway, still really hoping for this forum. :

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
post #82 of 236
9/27/07 at 2:57pm
Adding my voice to support a TV free forum.

I would love to discuss/read all the stuff mentioned above as well as the postive effects of being TV Free on kids with sensory issues.

It would be nice to have a place where you don't have to feel like a freak about a parenting decision. Kind of like some of the other forums here at MDC provide that support for other parenting decisions.

As another poster mentioned as well, this is one of my proudest parenting decisions/accomplishments and I would love to have a place to discuss.
post #83 of 236
9/27/07 at 5:16pm
Thread Starter 
Yep, every day, as my daughter becomes a bit older and a bit more savvy, I have all sorts of questions and conundrums that I would really like to discuss. I mean really -- every day there is something new! I am lacking the language to discuss being TV and Commercial-Free. I just know that a TV-Free Forum would be of help.
post #84 of 236
9/27/07 at 9:42pm
We haven't had tv programming for years, so no-tv has not been difficult w/ dd since she's only 14 months.

BUT, I find myself putting on a documentary or Pride & Prejudice or some child-safe video game like Katamari Damacy to entertain her when I'm not feeling very high-energy. And I always wonder if this isn't a slippery slope.

I'd like to be able to discuss this with other parents. I'd like to believe I can raise a family through consensual living and have kids who aren't wholly absorbed in tv because I provide an environment full of better experiences. But I also don't want to deny them media outlets like dvd or video games if they want access to that, simply because "I say so". I mean, I spend way too much time online but I don't think it's okay for, say, my dh to come home one day and cancel the dsl because he feels I'm too absorbed in it.

So yeah, I'd love a tv-free forum and I'd like to join in the discussions and see what others think about children's ability to take part in these sorts of decisions.
post #85 of 236
9/28/07 at 11:55am
And a few more great points... thanks, Paphia!

Paphia's post brings to mind a few other possible discussion topics:

For you, does no TV mean "no television" or does it also mean "no television, movies, DVDs, whatever" or does it mean "no screen time of any kind"? What is your rationale for these choices?

As your kids get older, are you modifying your positions at all? Again, what's the rationale for your choices?

As kids get older, what are the challenges and how have you met them?
post #86 of 236
9/28/07 at 10:20pm
goldfinch~ May I copy your siggy?
post #87 of 236
9/29/07 at 11:15am
Of course! The more, the merrier!

: : :
post #88 of 236
10/2/07 at 12:12pm
oh, yes. A TV subforum would be great! Just as the EC subforum in the diapering section

I've been TV free for some years and ds was born in a TV free house. Then we moved to my mum's and it became impossible to prevent ds (then 1yo) to watch TV. At first he only wanted to be with grandma, but after a year he's gotten more interested.

We're moving soon to a TV free house again.
post #89 of 236
10/2/07 at 1:42pm
I'd like to add my vote for a TV-free forum. We're currently far from TV-free, but it's something that weighs on my mind. One topic I'd like to see a discussion on is how to convince your dp to get on board. In our family, I don't think that it could EVER happen for him, but I'd like to at least go TV free with our dd. So how can I convince him to keep the TV off when dd is awake, that it's not imperative to her childhood to watch SpongeBob every morning (she's 13 months!).

I'd love some more information on the effects of TV watching on young children, and like others said, support while transitioning to TV-free, esp when there's a giant one in the living room that dp will NOT get rid of.
post #90 of 236
10/4/07 at 1:47pm
Testing my new siggy which just happens to bump this thread too!
post #91 of 236
10/4/07 at 7:59pm
Just started "Last Child in The Woods," another book ripe for discussion in the TV-free forum...
post #92 of 236
10/8/07 at 9:52am
Mostly just bumping... but I peeked at the TV forum last night and just want to say (and I don't mean to be snarky) if discussions of 'ER', 'Survivor: China', and 'Rock of Love' are appropriate for a Natural Family Living board, then a TV-free living subforum has GOT to qualify!
post #93 of 236
10/8/07 at 10:27am
We've been tv free for 8 years. I have a ds-15 who is severly dyslexic. He has always been homeschooled. I just said to my dh the other day that I wonder if it's time to get a tv so we could watch interesting/educational cable programs. He nixed the idea. We do watch dvd's on our computer.
I am beginning to feel though,after all of these years w/o tv that it really isn't the monster it's sometimes made out to be. I think giving children the freedom to have tv available to them is positive. When things are forbidden they become more alluring in general. Obviously I'm not talking about serious societal/moral issues here.
Maybe in younger children,say 0-4,tv should be monitored to a degree. I know of a mama of 3 small ones who has a big screen tv and it is on in the mornings and turned off in the afternoons. Yes,her oldest,almost 4,asks for the dolls she sees on the commercials but looking at in in depth,there is no depth to this 4 yr. old asking for these toys. She sees them,she likes them so she wants them. And very soon forgets about them and goes about her play.
She will not get these toys but it's fun to look at them.
I do realize that these commercials are specifically targeted at small children to react exactly the way this little girl reacts and it seems consumeristic and just plain wrong. But,are parents running out and buying these toys? I really don't think so. I don't think tv is the issue,I think it is how we react to it. I don't think it's that deep.
post #94 of 236
10/8/07 at 11:06am

I'd be in...

... we're not totally tv free, but enough so that I would participate and find value in the discussions. And who knows... maybe we'll even go totally tv free once I read all the compelling threads.
post #95 of 236
10/8/07 at 11:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by aran View Post
... we're not totally tv free, but enough so that I would participate and find value in the discussions. And who knows... maybe we'll even go totally tv free once I read all the compelling threads.
This is me totally too and that's why I'm soooo interested in this becoming a subforum!!!
post #96 of 236
10/9/07 at 4:45pm
I'm a new voice on this thread and I would love a tv-free living sub-forum, too.
post #97 of 236
10/9/07 at 7:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by goldfinch View Post
Mostly just bumping... but I peeked at the TV forum last night and just want to say (and I don't mean to be snarky) if discussions of 'ER', 'Survivor: China', and 'Rock of Love' are appropriate for a Natural Family Living board, then a TV-free living subforum has GOT to qualify!
:
post #98 of 236
10/10/07 at 11:53am

I am surprised and disappointed...

by the fact that there seems to be a small enough number of TV-free families out there that we even have to form a special group/forum. I assumed that on a board like this one the majority of families are (at least almost) TV-free...
Boy, am I naive!

My hope is that my children (DD 3 mts, DS 3 yrs) can make enough friends that are not complete TV owls and materialistic so that we won't run into too many problems for being "out of touch". Am I being naive again?!
post #99 of 236
10/10/07 at 2:42pm
Yes! We do need a tv free sub forum.I would visit quite frequently. And thanks to all of the pp who so eloquently articulated the arguments in favor of this!
post #100 of 236
10/10/07 at 3:38pm
I'd like it too... it is too big an idea (and too foreign for amny people) for a thread. It becomes hard to navigate... A sub-forum would be great!
New Posts  All Forums:
 
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Site help and feedback

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Welcome to Mothering! › Site help and feedback › Proposing a new Sub-Forum: TV-Free Families