Why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings...
Pam Hartley
----------
(no money to purchase a new one).
We missed it, and we didn't think it was for the better.
My young children monitor their own viewing very well. Until recently, my 7
year old would not watch any "adult" TV outside of Survivor. My four year
old still does not.
It's fascinating to me to watch the dynamic of adults arguing about
television viewing, and about diet (and bedtimes and spanking...)
Even those who really do hand over control of television, or want to, often
say things like, "But they only watch Discovery Channel" or "and she doesn't
even turn the thing on!"
Same thing with diet.
Hardly anyone says right out: We love television. We find it entertaining as
well as educational. There are times we watch quite a bit of it. I would not
miss an episode of The West Wing if you paid me. Television for us is
sometimes thought-provoking and relevant, and sometimes pure mind candy.
Pretty much exactly the same as books or music.
We also like candy, cookies, cereal that comes with prizes, and ice cream
from cows without resumes.
We eat some "good" food and watch some "good" television, but that doesn't
mean we don't fully enjoy and eat and watch "too much" at times of the "bad"
stuff.
There's a self-righteousness about hating TV (or dairy or caffeine) that I
confess used to make me irritable (or maybe that was the caffeine <g>). I am
lucky to have outgrown that reaction (unschooling cured me -- the
self-righteousness of everyone who thinks and thought I was nuts acted as a
psychiatric immersion).
Now, that self-righteousness almost amuses me, because the picture people
paint of television is that smart people either a) Don't watch it or b) Only
watch mentally stimulating, tasteful programming.
I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty smart. Not a genius, but I can
hold my own. So are my daughters, and my husband's not bad for a guy <g>. We
read books (well, the girls aren't reading yet, but they beg to be read to).
We eat what we want and it balances out (there are two HUGE buckets of
leftover Halloween candy downstairs, right now, on the rolling table, that
have gone down very little since October 31. Soon I'll have to throw them
out just to make room for the pretty Christmas candy I like to keep around
after Thanksgiving.) What did my daughter ask for for dinner? Salad. If my
daughter ever really did eat nothing but celery and peanut butter I'm
confident I'd notice it and be paying attention to what the problem REALLY
was before she was suffering from malnutrition. For a child to behave in
such a bizarre fashion, presuming she was given options, will show up in
many ways besides diet.
I don't have a lot of goals for myself or my children, outside doing what
makes us happy. People who are happy tend to eat well, monitor their own
activities, learn, think, grow. They don't tend to be malnourished or do
absolutely nothing but watch TV or fail to learn how to read (in a reading
household), or drink Clorox or play on the freeway or not think or not grow.
There are plenty of parents who are invested in thinking they have to
control diet or television or education. Some people think we are all doing
our children a huge disservice by not sending them to school. It's not fake,
some really do believe that.
The wonderful thing about lists like this is that people reading, who are
undecided, can (and will, the little devils) make up their own minds about
it. I used to fret over those people reading viewpoints that I found crazed
and bad for children. I don't anymore. People are going to believe what
they're going to believe, do what is comfortable for them to wrap their
brains around. If someone out there wants to believe that a healthy, happy
child really DOES eat nothing but celery and peanut butter until her life is
in danger, I have the maturity to bear up, even if I don't like the
unnecessary control they then place on their kids, and even if I'm still
compelled to say so.
Pam, who should also just come right out of the closet and admit to liking
romance novels.
>From: [email protected]There was a time in our lives when we were without a TV for several months
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Digest Number 1581
>Date: Tue, Nov 13, 2001, 4:59 AM
>
> Please remember-you are the adult. If you are uncomfortable about the
> amount of television your child is watching-and especially it's content.
> You can do something about it. Put the tv in the garage for a month and see
> how life changes. I promise it will be for the better. And you may find
> that nobody misses it.
>
(no money to purchase a new one).
We missed it, and we didn't think it was for the better.
My young children monitor their own viewing very well. Until recently, my 7
year old would not watch any "adult" TV outside of Survivor. My four year
old still does not.
It's fascinating to me to watch the dynamic of adults arguing about
television viewing, and about diet (and bedtimes and spanking...)
Even those who really do hand over control of television, or want to, often
say things like, "But they only watch Discovery Channel" or "and she doesn't
even turn the thing on!"
Same thing with diet.
Hardly anyone says right out: We love television. We find it entertaining as
well as educational. There are times we watch quite a bit of it. I would not
miss an episode of The West Wing if you paid me. Television for us is
sometimes thought-provoking and relevant, and sometimes pure mind candy.
Pretty much exactly the same as books or music.
We also like candy, cookies, cereal that comes with prizes, and ice cream
from cows without resumes.
We eat some "good" food and watch some "good" television, but that doesn't
mean we don't fully enjoy and eat and watch "too much" at times of the "bad"
stuff.
There's a self-righteousness about hating TV (or dairy or caffeine) that I
confess used to make me irritable (or maybe that was the caffeine <g>). I am
lucky to have outgrown that reaction (unschooling cured me -- the
self-righteousness of everyone who thinks and thought I was nuts acted as a
psychiatric immersion).
Now, that self-righteousness almost amuses me, because the picture people
paint of television is that smart people either a) Don't watch it or b) Only
watch mentally stimulating, tasteful programming.
I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty smart. Not a genius, but I can
hold my own. So are my daughters, and my husband's not bad for a guy <g>. We
read books (well, the girls aren't reading yet, but they beg to be read to).
We eat what we want and it balances out (there are two HUGE buckets of
leftover Halloween candy downstairs, right now, on the rolling table, that
have gone down very little since October 31. Soon I'll have to throw them
out just to make room for the pretty Christmas candy I like to keep around
after Thanksgiving.) What did my daughter ask for for dinner? Salad. If my
daughter ever really did eat nothing but celery and peanut butter I'm
confident I'd notice it and be paying attention to what the problem REALLY
was before she was suffering from malnutrition. For a child to behave in
such a bizarre fashion, presuming she was given options, will show up in
many ways besides diet.
I don't have a lot of goals for myself or my children, outside doing what
makes us happy. People who are happy tend to eat well, monitor their own
activities, learn, think, grow. They don't tend to be malnourished or do
absolutely nothing but watch TV or fail to learn how to read (in a reading
household), or drink Clorox or play on the freeway or not think or not grow.
There are plenty of parents who are invested in thinking they have to
control diet or television or education. Some people think we are all doing
our children a huge disservice by not sending them to school. It's not fake,
some really do believe that.
The wonderful thing about lists like this is that people reading, who are
undecided, can (and will, the little devils) make up their own minds about
it. I used to fret over those people reading viewpoints that I found crazed
and bad for children. I don't anymore. People are going to believe what
they're going to believe, do what is comfortable for them to wrap their
brains around. If someone out there wants to believe that a healthy, happy
child really DOES eat nothing but celery and peanut butter until her life is
in danger, I have the maturity to bear up, even if I don't like the
unnecessary control they then place on their kids, and even if I'm still
compelled to say so.
Pam, who should also just come right out of the closet and admit to liking
romance novels.