Re: [Unschooling-dotcom]TV Time was Adult time
Dalene and Andy
>>You are suffering from a lack of trust (my opinion).Personally I find these kind of statements judgemental. But then again I might be more sensitive than the rest. Could be cultural.
Back to TV. I am not concerned that my five year old will find some sex or violence to watch on the TV, but I am concerned that if he watches something during adult broadcasting time - let's say the news - he might be exposed to sex or violence during advertisements or trailers of other kinds.
>>I have notever seen a child with both unrestricted access to television *and* a parent
who paid attention and saw that options of other activities were always
open, consistently choose age-inappropriate television.
Mmm... that I believe, but that would not allow unrestricted television viewing to my 5 yo, since the age-appropriate programmes are limited in hours.
The other question is, are you not concerned with limitless hours of TV viewing for a child. Again I find it hard to ignore the research on hours spent watching TV. I accept that you don't pay much notice to the research, but it does make me nervous. In all honesty I can see the effects on children around me. Obesity seems to be an increasing problem and most primary schools here have a perceptual development program - where kids learn to jump and hop and climb. Things that they should have been doing in their first five years at least (and off course beyond).
I am a flexible person, and I change my reality constantly. Even though these are my views on TV right now, they might change in the near future. That is why I like to read different opinions. Thanks for sharing yours.
Dalene
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Pam Hartley
--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., "Dalene and Andy" <mactier@x>
wrote:
cultural.
sure how to answer questions or hold debates without making
some judgments or sharing the judgments I've made in my life
(not being sarcastic, just not sure what you would "like" people to
sound like when disagreeing with you).
if he watches something during adult broadcasting time - let's
say the news - he might be exposed to sex or violence during
advertisements or trailers of other kinds.
regularly when she was much younger, too) just walked in as I
was watching the news. Victim #11 was shot tonight in Virginia
and I exclaimed, "Oh no!" as the news report came on. She said,
"What? What's wrong?" I could have lied. I could have changed
the subject. I could have said, "You're too young." Instead I
explained what I was upset about. I made sure to reassure her
that we're far from where it's happening (we're in California) and
that I was hoping the police would catch the criminal soon.
programmes are limited in hours.
consider "age appropriate". My oldest (the almost-8) is a fan of
Japanese anime and watches some fairly adult-style shows on
Adult Swim late on Saturday nights. My just-5 year old loves to
watch veterinary shows on Animal Planet. My oldest, earlier this
spring, decided to watch CSI (revolting crime scene drama) with
her father (we told her what to expect, and I did try to talk her out
of it - I was wrong about what she could handle) and enjoyed it.
She also watches surgery programs on television.
Basically, age appropriate depends on the child. If I think
something is going to be too much for my daughters, I tell them
what I think. If they still want to watch, I watch with them or their
father does until we know they're okay with it (or they've said,
"yuck" and turned it off themselves).
research on hours spent watching TV. I accept that you don't pay
much notice to the research, but it does make me nervous. In all
honesty I can see the effects on children around me. Obesity
seems to be an increasing problem and most primary schools
here have a perceptual development program - where kids learn
to jump and hop and climb. Things that they should have been
doing in their first five years at least (and off course beyond).
who has parents who notice and who has actual options for how
to spend their time.
Children who do not have limits under those circumstances
don't watch TV the way children who do have limits watch TV. The
television is not a magical forbidden temple to my children. It's
entertainment they take advantage of -- sometimes a little,
sometimes a lot. They practice somersaults while watching
Sponge Bob. They pretend to be baby foxes and crawl all over
the floor during Crocodile Hunter. They race in and out of a room
while the television is on and leave it on the slightest whim to go
play outside.
Actually sitting down to watch a program for more than awhile
indicates they need the quiet time, or that the program is simply
riveting (and they aren't easily riveted, they know they don't have
to stuff in as much TV as they can before we say "that's enough"
and decide for them. It's the same reason my children don't
gorge on chocolate -- what's the point when they can have it any
time in any quantity they want?)
Many children in school come from TV-watching houses where
there is nothing better to do and/or where the parents are
constantly shushing the children and punishing them for being
spirited, so the kids have little choice of anything to do BUT
watch TV.
My oldest daughter is very slender, my youngest somewhat
chunky. I was slender, my husband's sisters were chunky.
Neither is a couch potato, they're both very active girls with
different body types. And they may change body type as time
goes on. I have been given no reason to worry about their
physical health or weight.
Pam
wrote:
> >>You are suffering from a lack of trust (my opinion).then again I might be more sensitive than the rest. Could be
>
> Personally I find these kind of statements judgemental. But
cultural.
>Could be. Or it could be the statement IS judgmental, but I'm not
sure how to answer questions or hold debates without making
some judgments or sharing the judgments I've made in my life
(not being sarcastic, just not sure what you would "like" people to
sound like when disagreeing with you).
> Back to TV. I am not concerned that my five year old will findsome sex or violence to watch on the TV, but I am concerned that
if he watches something during adult broadcasting time - let's
say the news - he might be exposed to sex or violence during
advertisements or trailers of other kinds.
>Brit (who to be fair is almost 8, but this sort of thing happened
regularly when she was much younger, too) just walked in as I
was watching the news. Victim #11 was shot tonight in Virginia
and I exclaimed, "Oh no!" as the news report came on. She said,
"What? What's wrong?" I could have lied. I could have changed
the subject. I could have said, "You're too young." Instead I
explained what I was upset about. I made sure to reassure her
that we're far from where it's happening (we're in California) and
that I was hoping the police would catch the criminal soon.
> Mmm... that I believe, but that would not allow unrestrictedtelevision viewing to my 5 yo, since the age-appropriate
programmes are limited in hours.
>Well, again, I'm sure I have a much broader range of what I
consider "age appropriate". My oldest (the almost-8) is a fan of
Japanese anime and watches some fairly adult-style shows on
Adult Swim late on Saturday nights. My just-5 year old loves to
watch veterinary shows on Animal Planet. My oldest, earlier this
spring, decided to watch CSI (revolting crime scene drama) with
her father (we told her what to expect, and I did try to talk her out
of it - I was wrong about what she could handle) and enjoyed it.
She also watches surgery programs on television.
Basically, age appropriate depends on the child. If I think
something is going to be too much for my daughters, I tell them
what I think. If they still want to watch, I watch with them or their
father does until we know they're okay with it (or they've said,
"yuck" and turned it off themselves).
> The other question is, are you not concerned with limitlesshours of TV viewing for a child. Again I find it hard to ignore the
research on hours spent watching TV. I accept that you don't pay
much notice to the research, but it does make me nervous. In all
honesty I can see the effects on children around me. Obesity
seems to be an increasing problem and most primary schools
here have a perceptual development program - where kids learn
to jump and hop and climb. Things that they should have been
doing in their first five years at least (and off course beyond).
>I am not concerned with limitles hours of TV viewing for a child
who has parents who notice and who has actual options for how
to spend their time.
Children who do not have limits under those circumstances
don't watch TV the way children who do have limits watch TV. The
television is not a magical forbidden temple to my children. It's
entertainment they take advantage of -- sometimes a little,
sometimes a lot. They practice somersaults while watching
Sponge Bob. They pretend to be baby foxes and crawl all over
the floor during Crocodile Hunter. They race in and out of a room
while the television is on and leave it on the slightest whim to go
play outside.
Actually sitting down to watch a program for more than awhile
indicates they need the quiet time, or that the program is simply
riveting (and they aren't easily riveted, they know they don't have
to stuff in as much TV as they can before we say "that's enough"
and decide for them. It's the same reason my children don't
gorge on chocolate -- what's the point when they can have it any
time in any quantity they want?)
Many children in school come from TV-watching houses where
there is nothing better to do and/or where the parents are
constantly shushing the children and punishing them for being
spirited, so the kids have little choice of anything to do BUT
watch TV.
My oldest daughter is very slender, my youngest somewhat
chunky. I was slender, my husband's sisters were chunky.
Neither is a couch potato, they're both very active girls with
different body types. And they may change body type as time
goes on. I have been given no reason to worry about their
physical health or weight.
Pam
Dalene and Andy
>>just not sure what you would "like" people tosound like when disagreeing with you
To me the difference lies in a statement and a hypothesis. I know it's semantics, but it certainly works for me.
Thanks for sharing your views on TV. I'm still digesting it. I do not believe my problem is a lack of trust, but rather a fear installed by the media.
Yes I can see that the research might be a reflection on families a bit different to ours. I know my son usually always chooses reading to stories to watching TV, but sometimes I say know when he's already spent two hours in the mornings watching his programmes and then want to watch a video later.
Dalene
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Deborah Lewis
On Tue, 15 Oct 2002 18:21:52 +1300 "Dalene and Andy" <mactier@...>
writes:
sex and violence. If you were watching a program and something came on
that concerned him you would be there to explain it.
who can best decide that is the child. My son always loved monster
movies and when Starship Troopers came out I was worried that the brain
sucking scene would be too much for him. We talked about it and he
wanted to see the movie anyway. He loved it. What I thought might be a
problem wasn't in any way. He has a firm grasp on what is real and what
is not. He's a good judge of what he can handle.
the one limiting it. He does that himself. Sometimes he watches TV,
sometimes he doesn't. He has other interests and ambitions. We can
make sure our kids have other good choices of entertainment and they can
decide for themselves which are appropriate.
I have seen some of the concerns relating TV to obesity in children but
TV has no calories. A sedentary lifestyle may not be the healthiest
one, but we sit for other things as well, and I've not yet heard any push
to ban books because kids who read all the time are sitting.
Kids sit at school too, much longer than my son ever sits during TV.
Frequently he is upside down or in the process of getting upside down.
Kids sit for homework. Let's be realistic. A parent doesn't have to
watch their child sit all day. You can take kids walking and hiking and
swimming and skiing and biking and out to play hopscotch.
As far as schools having to teach kids to jump and hop, etc, school
"teaches" a lot of things that kids will do when they're ready without
all that teaching. Gross motor skill development is on their list now of
things that must be taught, but If the child is walking at school age I'd
say he's on his way to gross motor skill development and he did it
without the schools help. I believe it's wrong that schools force
children into reading because they are a certain age, and I don't see any
difference between that and forcing jump rope skills. It's more than a
little silly that we make kids go sit all day at school and then develop
special programs for them because they sit too much. It probably works
slick for everyone to blame TV.
Deb L
.
writes:
> Back to TV. I am not concerned that my five year old will find someIt has been my experience that little kids aren't terribly interested in
> sex or violence to watch on the TV, but I am concerned that if he
> watches something during adult broadcasting time - let's say the
> news - he might be exposed to sex or violence during advertisements
> or trailers of other kinds.
sex and violence. If you were watching a program and something came on
that concerned him you would be there to explain it.
> Mmm... that I believe, but that would not allow unrestrictedI don't think we can know what age appropriate is. I think the person
> television viewing to my 5 yo, since the age-appropriate programmes
> are limited in hours.
who can best decide that is the child. My son always loved monster
movies and when Starship Troopers came out I was worried that the brain
sucking scene would be too much for him. We talked about it and he
wanted to see the movie anyway. He loved it. What I thought might be a
problem wasn't in any way. He has a firm grasp on what is real and what
is not. He's a good judge of what he can handle.
> The other question is, are you not concerned with limitless hours ofI've never known my son's TV viewing to be limitless. It's just I'm not
> TV viewing for a child. Again I find it hard to ignore the research
> on hours spent watching TV. I accept that you don't pay much notice
> to the research, but it does make me nervous. In all honesty I can
> see the effects on children around me. Obesity seems to be an
> increasing problem and most primary schools here have a perceptual
> development program - where kids learn to jump and hop and climb.
> Things that they should have been doing in their first five years at
> least (and off course beyond).
the one limiting it. He does that himself. Sometimes he watches TV,
sometimes he doesn't. He has other interests and ambitions. We can
make sure our kids have other good choices of entertainment and they can
decide for themselves which are appropriate.
I have seen some of the concerns relating TV to obesity in children but
TV has no calories. A sedentary lifestyle may not be the healthiest
one, but we sit for other things as well, and I've not yet heard any push
to ban books because kids who read all the time are sitting.
Kids sit at school too, much longer than my son ever sits during TV.
Frequently he is upside down or in the process of getting upside down.
Kids sit for homework. Let's be realistic. A parent doesn't have to
watch their child sit all day. You can take kids walking and hiking and
swimming and skiing and biking and out to play hopscotch.
As far as schools having to teach kids to jump and hop, etc, school
"teaches" a lot of things that kids will do when they're ready without
all that teaching. Gross motor skill development is on their list now of
things that must be taught, but If the child is walking at school age I'd
say he's on his way to gross motor skill development and he did it
without the schools help. I believe it's wrong that schools force
children into reading because they are a certain age, and I don't see any
difference between that and forcing jump rope skills. It's more than a
little silly that we make kids go sit all day at school and then develop
special programs for them because they sit too much. It probably works
slick for everyone to blame TV.
Deb L
.