http://www.benji.com/RisksOfTV.htm
This article hit home for me. I could not help but think back to my childhood. You see my parents worked fulltime when I was growing up (they still do). I was lucky not to have to go to daycare; my grandparents were retired and happy to watch me daily. However, my grandmother wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box. She suffered from some type of inability to learn and retain information. Back then families didn’t rush their children to the doctor to find out what was wrong. Unfortunately, her family gave up on her and allowed her to drop out of school at the end of the third grade. My grandmother couldn’t read, so she couldn’t read to me. She also didn’t understand the importance of social interaction, so I spent most days in the house with her watching TV. I never really put two and two together until this moment when I read that article. You see I struggled in school, especially in elementary school. My primary downfall was in reading. I couldn’t grasp the concept of reading. My parents tried everything, including hooked on phonics; which I’m sorry to say was a complete waste of money. It wasn’t until the fourth grade that I picked up the ever so popular Goosebumps series, and by some miracle taught myself to read. Things never came easy for me in school; I was always that kid that really had to work hard for the “A”. To this day math and reading (unless purely for entertainment) are not my favorite things to do; mostly because I am not good at them. So when asked the question, “will you limit your child’s time watching TV”? My answer- absolutely!
The article makes a good point- there is no downfall to turning off the TV. Sure it might make things a little more challenging for parents; they will have to get creative with new ways to entertain their children. But is this really a bad thing? I would give anything to turn back the hands of time to when I was young and turn off the TV. If it would have changed my enjoyment of school and more importantly my grades isn’t it worth it? In the article the author points out that watching TV requires no effort from us. Even if the shows goal is to be educational, the child will not get anything from it. If a child’s reading ability shows no improvement when watching educational shows such as Sesame Street then why do we allow them to watch TV at all? It’s no wonder why children from TV deprived homes are the brightest kids the class!
My daughter is due to arrive in this wonderful world in about five weeks. I haven’t given TV much thought until now. I am grateful for what I have learned, and realize that even though it might be more work on my part to keep her entertained without watching what my grandmother calls the tube- in the end it will be so worth it!
Ali, I can tell you as a mom of six, it is worth avoiding the thing all together! We give it up every Lent, and for six weeks I have children that get along better, play together, use their imagination, and they never seem to miss the thing! If it weren't for my husband and my oldest son, we'd probably never turn it back on....but we do, and then we all get sucked back in. I do limit it, but this article makes me think I should do more to pull the plug! Thanks for sharing!
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