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Original poster

My teenagers didn’t watch any tv this week at all

53 replies

Trieditall · 27/12/2023 20:28

And they never do!

I’m thinking of how things have changed over the years. There is no family viewing at all in my house, nothing we would sit down and enjoy together. I agreed with dc we would watch Doctor Who on Christmas Day but when it came to it they weren’t interested. They might watch it on their own devices one day but probably not.

I don’t know what the future of the BBC tv licence is but I know my nieces and nephews in their 20s
don't have one as they only game and watch Netflix.

We occasionally go to the cinema to see a new film which we all enjoy but we wouldn’t watch a film on a tv screen together (I do but alone.) I wonder if people will even have a tv in their living rooms in the future.

Anyway just musing and wondering if it’s the same for all families these days especially as the children get older.

OP posts:

wideawakeinthemiddleofthenightagain · 27/12/2023 21:51

What I've found with my teen & tween DC is that, if we are all watching a series together (for example, the recent series of Ghost or Squid Games), I practically have to beg them to wait until we're all together to watch the next episode. They have no understanding of why we can't all just watch it separately in our own time and perhaps chat about an episode or the whole series when we've all watched it. It's so different from when I was a similar age in the early 90s and we'd all make sure we were free at, say, 8pm on Thursday or 9pm on Tuesday to watch the latest episode of a series as it was aired. We had a video but you didn't want to take your chances with that actually recording!

JustExistingNotLiving · 27/12/2023 21:52

Not just you.
We don’t even have a Tv anymore tbh.
But also we all have very different tastes and no one can be bothered to watch something they don’t really like.

Both dcs in student accommodation now. No one has a Tv either.

megletthesecond · 27/12/2023 21:54

Same. It's just me watching TV in my house.
DS watches the news with me in the week when we eat and that's about it.

theduchessofspork · 27/12/2023 21:55

We do watch films together quite a lot

And drama series, plus some doc series

all on demand though though quite a bit from the Bbc

idontlikealdi · 27/12/2023 21:57

We've watched Only Fools this week with 12 yo Dts, they thought it funny. They've also watched some Gavin and Stacey but there was nothing new I wanted to watch this year. We mostly stream but that's not been great either.

Theoldwoman · 27/12/2023 21:57

I can’t believe you pay a tv licence.
Australia did away with that in 1974, NZ in 1999.

Takemebacktenyears · 27/12/2023 22:04

This is sad 😞 my Dd is only 5, but I don’t want a future where we don’t have any bonding time at all where were all sat round together. I don’t want her spending her days watching YouTube crap

ExpensiveDecorations · 27/12/2023 22:05

The eldest, 19, mainly watches Sky Sports (we all watch the darts at this time of year). The 17yo watches lots of TV and has a strong preference for watching with others, won't watch on her own. We have watched Strictly, Dr Who, Ghosts, Morecambe and Wise and Beyond Paradise together so far this week.

aramox1 · 27/12/2023 22:08

Here too. Ds streams boxsets as a background to revision. As a toddler I was priding myself that he'd never seen live tv- what a backlash!

PlayMeOurSongOnGuitar · 27/12/2023 22:28

We don’t watch any live tv anymore and haven’t for years. We do watch stuff together as a family on Netflix, Amazon etc. Our kids do watch a lot of YouTube and like gaming but neither bother with tiktok. We don’t have a tv licence and don’t think the kids will in the future either.

bigyellowTpot · 27/12/2023 23:01

yes I agree op I think live TV as we've always known it will definitely become a thing of the past as the younger generation have different habits. My 11 year old also has no attention span for tv but will happily spend hours watching YouTube shorts. I personally miss the days of just regular TV pre internet days where everyone watched the same programmes and the programmes would be a big talking point in work or school the next day. I miss that.

Elphame · 27/12/2023 23:07

I haven’t watched tv for probably 20 years now other than when it’s on in other peoples houses.

The world hasn’t ended. Family bonding gets done over board games rather than everyone staring vacantly at a screen in the corner of the room.

PlayMeOurSongOnGuitar · 27/12/2023 23:42

The world hasn’t ended. Family bonding gets done over board games rather than everyone staring vacantly at a screen in the corner of the room.

Such a mumsnet comment. 🤣🤣

Actually our very large TVs are all wall mounted (shock horror) so not in the corner. Another mumsnet sin.

Why would anyone stare vacantly at a tv if they’re following the plot of what’s on? 🤣

We do love a good board game as well though, we’ve just bought some new ones for Xmas....as well as some ‘plastic tat’ obviously.

EasterIssland · 27/12/2023 23:48

Takemebacktenyears · 27/12/2023 22:04

My son is same age as yours. This week we have watch chicken run 2 and Paddington. Both from streaming rather than a tv channel

agree op I’ve not watched tv for years now. I only watch Netflix / Amazon prime / Disney.

TheCatfordCat · 28/12/2023 00:06

I watch You Tube on the telly. There's a few content creators who do history videos on there, which I love, especially social history. I watch Netflix (though their good content is dwindling) for the popular stuff, but I tend to watch their baaaad hallmark style films on my own. My exH & I watch Brassic together because it's hilarious. I watch The Bear on Disney+ with DD, we are both big fans. We always watch the Marvel stuff together, though more recently it's off the boil.

DD is watching a lot of old American History documentaries on YT because she's doing the A Level, and so if I or her dad are home we watch them with her.

But mostly we don't watch TV as I did as a kid, from when we got home from school, then switched off for dinner, then resumed for TOTP or whatever after the news at seven, and continue until bedtime. It's much more, when we are at home together which isn't often these days because we're all on different schedules.

Bbq1 · 28/12/2023 00:16

My older teen enjoys watching a series with us a few times a week. We've done loads over the years. Ds has chosen 2 films for Nye and he has just reinstated Movie Night.

SingSongVerilyTheSky · 28/12/2023 00:20

I get what you mean, I’ve said to colleagues recently that I never really watch tv with anyone in my house and it makes me a bit sad! Having so much access to streaming has really changed things. There are a few things I watch with DCs on Netflix though - eg DD1 introduced me to Ginny and Georgia and I have recently rewatched The Good Place, which I’d originally binged by myself, with my DS. It feels rare to have these things now so I really treasure having a show to watch and reference/quote with them, (pretty much lost hope of having any shows in common with H, but he’s moving out soon so never mind 🤣)

It’s harder to make the time to watch something when it’s all just there all the time! Christmas Day was lovely as we watched loads together on BBC1. We are all excited about Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and The Traitors coming back next month and I reckon they will enjoy Gladiators too (I loved it as a child!)

It’s hard though, try not to lose hope that it’ll happen - we’ve had long phases where I felt so sad that we were all watching stuff individually but sometimes it just takes the right show. What I found useful was just getting on with watching something in the living room while they’re around - often my DCs are reluctant when I directly ask them to watch something but if they happen to see something funny they’ll end up getting into it. 💐

TheChosenTwo · 28/12/2023 00:22

My Teens 18 and 19 have TVs in their rooms. 18yo switches hers on rarely but when she does it’s for gaming or a familiar film if she can’t sleep.
The only time the 19yo’s telly gets switched on is when I sleep in there when she’s at uni and dh is snoring too loudly in our bedroom 😂
They don’t watch tv with us either really. Saying that, the only time I turn it on is when I go to bed, just something to encourage me to switch off!
Dh is the tv person in this house, quite often he’s left 3 on in the house while he’s wandered from one room to the next…

SingSongVerilyTheSky · 28/12/2023 00:24

I really miss having movie nights TBH, it has got very tricky with DCs age 16, 14 and 6! Focus is a struggle too (autism/ADHD house). I’ve tried to let go of the need to have all of us there, eg there’s no point trying to persuade DD1 to watch much Dreamworks etc these days and sometimes it’s nice to watch something more grown up with just the teens.

mollyfolk · 28/12/2023 00:28

We have a standing Saturday night movie night - November to March - we take turns picking the movie . I make a fake-away type meal and I get fizzy drinks for them and wine for us. We all enjoy it; otherwise everyone would be off doing their own thing.

EvilElsa · 28/12/2023 00:31

Mine don't watch TV at all either.
DD 18 mostly listens to music or podcasts but does love a film. No soaps or reality TV or anything.
DS 16 is all about the computer and watches no TV or films at all.
I remember excitedly getting the Christmas Radio Times as a kid and circling what I was going to watch! How times change.

ChristmasEvemaddness · 28/12/2023 00:31

I've just finished the sound of music with 11 year old. Yes it's past midnight but it's an opportunity to stretch her attention span and talk about theme etc

Earlier today my 16 year old and I watched where eagles dare (again from several years ago).

I often watch films with dd 16, God father trilogy, to have and have not etc.

BungleandGeorge · 28/12/2023 00:36

Watching Netflix or a film at home is ‘watching tv’ to me, even if they watch it on the laptop! What are you counting as watching tv?

NoSquirrels · 28/12/2023 00:37

We very rarely watch live TV.

However, beginning during Covid and still ongoing now, we watch TV series as a family, last thing before bed most nights once everyone is in from activities. It does involve a fair bit of compromise and trial and error to find the right series that engages everyone, but there’s loads we’ve enjoyed - I used to watch things with my dad as a teen but not really my mum and this is definitely a whole family thing. Which is nice.

We don’t allow double screens and that goes for both adults and children. It’s policed equally!

TiredMum30 · 28/12/2023 00:37

We don't have a licence, we got rid of it a few years ago as no one bothered with live TV in our house. Me and DH don't watch the soaps and our DC all watch netflix or prime so it was pointless keeping it. We've watched a few Xmas films together over the past few days but mainly the DC have been in their bedrooms.

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