No TV

[nutcrackingcrazy]

The TV broke a while back and I was delighted. The kids hardly watched it anyway and I'm finding we are speaking more, spending lovely time together as a family not being distracted by it.

AIBU to think the kids don't need a TV? We don't have internet either so no computers or screens (which has always been so). Kids are 4&6.

It’s amazing that folk that have and watch tv get so aggressive towards those that don’t. Shows that deep down they know it’s a shit way to spend time so attack those that don’t as virtuous and “.think they’re better” types.

Nope i got rid of my TV and replaced with a book case can't say i miss it at all. I have a laptop for the occasional time i want to watch a movie or something and a radio for background noise when im cleaning but there will be no TV for the foreseeable future and i don't see myself letting DS have a tablet or phone either id rather he be immersed in books and learning than YouTube crap and god knows what else

Ah someone's looking for a Blue Peter Badge this morning 🙄 You don't watch TV, well done you 👏🏻

A two week.old cat can jump?

A two week.old cat can jump?

I think it was the TV that was only two weeks old?

Living without a TV and wifi is fine when DCs are younger, but it won't be many years before the oldest notices and feels they are missing out in some way.

Mine pick up a lot from documentaries, DS1 loves the dry detailed stuff on the Smithsonian Channel. They've been having their first experience of having to wait a week for the next episode of His Dark Materials. That's not to say that they don't watch too many minecraft tutorials on youtube... but the weather has been appalling for months, the garden is an out-of-bounds clay pit, and there is a limit to how much reading and drawing for pleasure they can do with dyslexia and dyspraxia making it hard work. So TV has done a lot to keep us sane since the heavens opened in August. I will credit the minecraft, it is a valuable piece of popular culture and social bonding for my DS with HFA, and bonding between the siblings.

No need to rushto replace it, but keep an open mind into the future.

Yes shinygiratina, when I ordered a dc to come made in my own book-loving image I got a dyslexic reading-hating one instead
TV is viewed as a "lower order" pleasure by many, irrespective of what you are actually watching on it. I've read as many crap books as I've watched crap tv shows.

I broke the habit about 10 years ago when I realised how poor most of the documentaries had become. 10 or 15 minutes worth of material stretched to cover an hour and the presenter became the most important part of the shows.

When the analogue signal was switched off the tv ceased to work and that was a natural end to it

So... no idea what's been produced in the last ten years then?
I think it would do be more good to break my phone habit than my TV one. And my house would be tidier and I could achieve more at work if I broke my book reading habit.

I'd be concerned about the potential disadvantage that you're increasingly putting your six year old at, both socially and in terms of computer literacy and skills.

Do what suits you and your family, but it's not really something to show off about. I don't think it makes you inherently better than someone with a kid who is a whizz on the iPad... balance is key.

Meh. So what. Lots of people don't have TV's. It's really not a big deal.

Some people don't have a microwave either. No one gives a fuck about that too.

I told a class the other day I didn't have a dishwasher and they were like and

I personally wouldnt want my child not to have access to a tv or the internet- it's whats going on in the world. I think most people can find a healthy balance between 100% screen time and no tv.
Regardless OP it wont last long, most homework is either on the web or requires use of the internet.

I think a bit of balance is needed. I have quite a lot of friends who have consciously eschewed TV in their home and if I'm brutally honest I think quite a lot of this is actually virtue signalling or puritanism, rather than for the kids' benefit.

I do think a lot of kids watch far, far too much TV and I'm fairly strict with my DD. My primary rule is that TV should never become a default activity -- it should be actively chosen as opposed to being wallpaper which is on from dawn until dusk.

But I do think people who choose to have none at all are probably not doing their kids any favours. Firstly they are making it much harder for them to watch genuinely impactful and interesting stuff. His Dark Materials is a great example but there are tons of others. And to some extent they are cutting them out of the general cultural world they occupy. Secondly they are singling them out at school in a way which is probably not massively helpful. Thirdly, having a TV but moderating its use teaches them self-control.

I grew up in an area which was full of this sort of virtue-signalling -- there was a kid in my class who was only allowed to watch BBC2 - and inevitably most of these kids rebelled against this once they were old enough and watched wall-to-wall Neighbours. Kids can sense when a parent's neurosis is taking over any rational good.

I do get why people are concerned about screen time etc, but having no TV at all seems a little scorched earth and I honestly think its probably more for the parents' benefit than that of the kids.

Do what you want, who cares?

I love TV and pop culture, and as my kids get older, I'm really enjoying rewatching old favourites with them. To my absolute surprise and delight, they both love Seinfeld. We watch an episode or two each night together when I'm not working and all have a great laugh / talk about life and culture in the 1990s (pre-history to them).

I love that what was funny to me 25 years ago is funny to them now. There's something really joyous about that.

So... no idea what's been produced in the last ten years then?

Nope and no interest either. When I catch snippets in waiting rooms etc it all seems to be people trying to find bargain antiques or engaged in competitive cookery. I'm sure there are some programmes I might enjoy but I don't have enough interest to search for them. I've never been much into visual media - I much prefer text based communication.

Hmm, entirely up to you how you spend your free time, I made the comment only because you gave the poor quality of tv as a reason for giving it up. Daytime telly is notoriously rubbish by the way, your lucky you weren't exposed to any Jeremy Kyle!

tv Has many great things to offer if you select wisely, but it’s not a necessity.

Not having computers is going to present real problems as children get older. Admittedly I live in a very wealthy area, but the school absolutely assumes the students have access to the internet at home and expect them to use it for graded assignments. I don’t just mean research, I mean logging on and doing homework online. Even if your school does not make such assumptions, your kids will need to be able to type papers for school and eventually will want to submit job applications

So @nutcrackingcrazy your children have no access to any kind of visual media whatsoever? Are they are allowed to listen to radio/cds/audiobooks? Do they not have films on dvd that they enjoyed watching?
I find it odd tbh. TV can be so entertaining.
Too much of anything is probably a bad thing thing, but in moderation why not?
We have a tv, and laptops, phones, e-readers, game consoles etc. We also still spend lovely time together as a family and we all enjoy other non-media-based things too. They aren’t mutually exclusive.

Also agree with the pp about how books and reading are seen as so much better but OMG there’s some shite been published.

Nothing wrong with it at all. It's great at their age to focus on human interaction etc. I think a lot of people are too happy to plunk their kids in front of screens and their ability to interact socially suffers frequently because of it.

I love watching a good crime drama on TV. I have been brushing up my French from watching Spiral.

I really dislike it when the morally superior virtue signallers are so smug about not having a TV.

TV is viewed as a "lower order" pleasure by many, irrespective of what you are actually watching on it. I've read as many crap books as I've watched crap tv shows.

Well said Hohonoshow.
I agree with thepeopleversuswork that balance is needed. I watch specific TV programmes not the TV.

My dm always had the tv or the radio on, even if she wasn't really listening. She did it for the company, being elderly and living alone for a very long time. It was like having someone else in the house.

I find there's so little now on TV that I really want to watch. If my tv set broke down, I'm not sure I'd replace it.
My local library lends out DVDs and Blurays for one or two pounds, so I could watch them on my PC monitor (which is nearly as big as the tv screen). That way, I'd waste less time and have more quality viewing (or it'd be my own fault if not).

You get internet and they don't?

That's going to get super old, super quick

Also, tv is ACE - there is SO much good shit on Netflix/Prime - you're really missing out

Although I admit that I prefer to read news items on news websites than watch a video. It irritates me no end when I click on something that interests me and it is just a news video.