serendipitymama

about or comparing UNSCHOOLERS who had unlimited media access and
those who had none? thanks!

BRIAN POLIKOWSKY

can I ask why?

unschooling is about opening up our kids world, not restricting it.
Alex

serendipitymama <granolapunk@...> wrote:
about or comparing UNSCHOOLERS who had unlimited media access and
those who had none? thanks!






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Sandra Dodd

-=-about or comparing UNSCHOOLERS who had unlimited media access and
those who had none? thanks!-=-



I don't know of any. What are you figuring or guessing they would say?

Do you know any unschoolers who have no media access?



Sandra




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serendipitymama

I've read a blogs about parents with unschooled children who don't
watch TV or play video/computer games. I was just curious if that had
ever been studied. I'm wondering if those kids go crazy watching TV
and playing video games later on in life or if they don't bother
because they are used to not having that.

Brianna




--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> -=-about or comparing UNSCHOOLERS who had unlimited media access and
> those who had none? thanks!-=-
>
>
>
> I don't know of any. What are you figuring or guessing they would say?
>
> Do you know any unschoolers who have no media access?
>
>
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

BRIAN POLIKOWSKY

My niece's boyfriend was "unschooled" according to his parents but he was not allowed video games, tv or junk foods at home. Guess what hapenned when he was old enough and could?
Yep....years of eating nothing but junk food, watching tv and playing games. Now he is getting better at it. Maybe because he lives with my nice who was not limited and has a much more "healthy" relashionship with life.
Alex

serendipitymama <granolapunk@...> wrote:
I've read a blogs about parents with unschooled children who don't
watch TV or play video/computer games. I was just curious if that had
ever been studied. I'm wondering if those kids go crazy watching TV
and playing video games later on in life or if they don't bother
because they are used to not having that.

Brianna

--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> -=-about or comparing UNSCHOOLERS who had unlimited media access and
> those who had none? thanks!-=-
>
>
>
> I don't know of any. What are you figuring or guessing they would say?
>
> Do you know any unschoolers who have no media access?
>
>
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

harmony

People that I have know that do not have tv or video games when they are young were not interested as adults. Children that had it, but it was restricted are the ones I have seen go crazy with it.
None of them were homeschoolers.
Harmony


> -------Original Message-------
> From: serendipitymama <granolapunk@...>
> Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: are there any articles....
> Sent: Feb 29 '08 3:18pm
>
> I've read a blogs about parents with unschooled children who don't
> watch TV or play video/computer games. I was just curious if that had
> ever been studied. I'm wondering if those kids go crazy watching TV
> and playing video games later on in life or if they don't bother
> because they are used to not having that.
>
> Brianna
>
> --- In [LINK: mailto:AlwaysLearning%40yahoogroups.com]
> [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
> >
> > -=-about or comparing UNSCHOOLERS who had unlimited media access and
> > those who had none? thanks!-=-
> >
> >
> >
> > I don't know of any. What are you figuring or guessing they would say?
> >
> > Do you know any unschoolers who have no media access?
> >
> >
> >
> > Sandra
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>

Joyce Fetteroll

On Feb 29, 2008, at 4:18 PM, serendipitymama wrote:
>
> I've read a blogs about parents with unschooled children who don't
> watch TV or play video/computer games. I was just curious if that had
> ever been studied. I'm wondering if those kids go crazy watching
> TVand playing video games later on in life or if they don't bother
> because they are used to not having that.

The press has barely noticed that we exist let alone science.
Unschoolers are not up to the level of scientific surveys yet ;-)

And unschoolers are people. They react as people do to control which
depends on personality (naturally fearful? skeptical?) and depends on
the atmosphere (fear? waste of time?) around TV. Probably the only
significant factor different with unschooled kids is they don't need
the stress relief that schooled kids often use TV and games for.
Unschoolers just want to use them because they're fun.

They also react as people do to what they like and what they don't like.

So for a child who wasn't going to be drawn to TV and games, the
control probably won't have much impact. My beet intake was limited
as a child just because they weren't around our house much but I
didn't go on a beet eating frenzy once I saw jars and jars of them in
the store ;-)

For kids who did want it: Some will try to cram in as much as they
can when they have the freedom to do so. Some will be fearful and
impose those fears on their own kids. Some will have no use for TV
because they've internalized it's a waste of time. Both will probably
feel some discomfort around people who watch TV and play games --
especially if the let their kids! ;-)

Are there studies done on adults who were controlled as kids? I can't
see unschooling effecting the results.
> People that I have know that do not have tv or video games when
> they are young were not interested as adults.
>

I know Pam Sorooshian's husband (she's off to a conference this
weekend I think) didn't even see a TV as a child. He's had a love
affair with it ever since he moved to this country. :-)

There are several factors that determine how a particular person will
react which is what makes humans so fascinating :-)

Joyce

BRIAN POLIKOWSKY

>". Some will have no use for TV
>because they've internalized it's a waste of time. Both will probably
>feel some discomfort around people..."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I have neighbors that homeschool and they have done it since the kids were school age. They have 5 kids and are very wealthy. The mother stays at home but has a math degree from an Ivy League School ( can't remember which now) and the father is a famous MD at Mayo Clinic. They don't have a TV.They have this way of thinking that TV is a waste of time and that the kids would do nothing but fight and watch TV and never pick up a book.
Once the youngest was here playing with my then 3 year old ds , she was 11 years old, and I had the TV on some show on Discovery or Animal Planet. She sat down for a moment and got sucked in . It was a great show and she watched till the end with me. She then turned and said how it was a great show and how it was not a waste of time like she had heard all shows where.These kids do have computer and watch movies on it, with the parents approval.

> People that I have know that do not have TV or video games when
> they are young were not interested as adults.
>

I have another friend who's kids did go to school but the had no TV at home. They are all into natural things. They has two girls. When they were young they did not miss TV. Once they turned like 16-17 years old they would go spend the night at my cousins( kids were best friends) and they would do nothing but watch TV even spending the whole night awake to do so. They binged as much as they could.

Alex





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Joanna Murphy

For kids who did want it: Some will try to cram in as much as they
can when they have the freedom to do so. Some will be fearful and
impose those fears on their own kids. Some will have no use for TV
because they've internalized it's a waste of time. Both will probably
feel some discomfort around people who watch TV and play games --
especially if the let their kids! ;-)

We were recently at an event that included all kinds of homeschoolers, and the biggest
controversy of the week came from a family who shuns technology as a waste of time. The
problem was that she couldn't convince her (about) 10 year old son to stay off of the
computers, which at times was the biggest activity going on. By the end of the week she was
fuming, and he was bingeing when he got the chance.

One of my favorite photos that came out of the week was her son at a computer,
concentrating very hard on something he was doing, with a halo of friends all around him,
watching with rapt attention. It's a hard sell to try to convince me that there wasn't
something important going on in that group for someone, if not everyone, but the drama
that ensued would certainly have invalidated that for her son.

Joanna

Sandra Dodd

-=-My niece's boyfriend was "unschooled" according to his parents but
he was not allowed video games, tv or junk foods at home. Guess what
hapenned when he was old enough and could?
Yep....years of eating nothing but junk food, watching tv and playing
games.-=-

Experiences create maturity, I think, and choices help with choices,
and limiting children (treating them like children, in the put-down,
limiting ways) seems so clearly damaging that I can't stop thinking
about it.

That boy had to frantically live some of his childhood after he left
home. There are young people driving cars, drinking, staying out
late, living in ways that were forbidden, and the side effect is (in
some cases, thankfully not most or all) alcoholism, death, pregnancy,
loss of jobs and relationships, loss of money and opportunity, loss
of self esteem, sex with strangers (and all those dangers: see above
with that in mind).

There are other bad ways to "treat children like children," and I
need to get my thoughts together and write that up.



Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-Once the youngest was here playing with my then 3 year old ds ,
she was 11 years old, and I had the TV on some show on Discovery or
Animal Planet. She sat down for a moment and got sucked in . It was a
great show and she watched till the end with me. She then turned and
said how it was a great show and how it was not a waste of time like
she had heard all shows where.-=-

Unfortunately for the relationship with the parents, she now knows
that what they told her about TV wasn't true.
That could affect her reaction to what they've told her about saving
money, and dating, and about how she will feel about being honest
with her parents.

It's to be avoided, this loss of faith.

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-One of my favorite photos that came out of the week was her son at
a computer,
concentrating very hard on something he was doing, with a halo of
friends all around him,
watching with rapt attention. It's a hard sell to try to convince me
that there wasn't
something important going on in that group for someone, if not
everyone, but the drama
that ensued would certainly have invalidated that for her son.-=-



I think the drama would reinforce for him that it was something VERY
important, out of proportion to anything that actually happened.

So the next question is will he doubt his own perceptions or his
mother's?



Sandra

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jenstarc4

--- In [email protected], "harmony" <harmony@...> wrote:
>
> People that I have know that do not have tv or video games when
they are young were not interested as adults. Children that had it,
but it was restricted are the ones I have seen go crazy with it.
> None of them were homeschoolers.
> Harmony
>
>

That is an interesting point actually. If tv video games are
accessible, meaning that it is sitting there, but is artificially
restricted, it becomes a point of control and an artificially
restricted thing that suddenly has a lot of power. If you don't have
tv or video games at all, its not sitting there looking accessible or
a point of control.

I grew up without a tv for much of my childhood. When I was a young
adult, I didn't have a tv until I met my husband and moved in with
him. We don't control tv or video games. Currently the tv is off
and one daughter is reading manga and the other one is playing with
fashion polly's snuggled up on the couch.

I can go for days and not even think of the tv. I really could live
without it, although I love movies. My older daughter who has never
been restricted and has watched tv all day, for days on end, hardly
ever watches tv these days. My younger daughter could turn the tv on
right this very moment and I wouldn't care at all. She could
continue to watch it all day, but she's not.

Personally I think it's far worse to own a tv and have video games
and control it, than to not have them at all, unless of course a
child is really wanting it and the parent is refusing that child's
needs. It's really about the control isn't it?