Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] TV monitoring
libbygirl
Hi Karen,
I do believe very much in unschooling yet tv is one area where I do monitor
the amount they watch. Each of my children can watch one program a week and
that is it!! That said, they can choose any program. If there is something
"special" on like that BBC program "Walking With Dinosaurs" I let them know
that if they were interested, they could watch that with me as well as their
own program.
In practice, I do find that they watch more than I would like because there
seem to be times when there are so many great film etc. on that I suggest
the kids might choose to watch but othertimes it works well.
Before the true unschoolers jump on my hypocrisy, I must point out in my
defence that I live in NZ where there are considerably more ads on than in
the States and no PBS so it is actually the extreme exposure to the barrage
of advertising that i am trying to monitor, not specifically the
programmes!! (not much of an excuse, is it?? *grin* still I do believe that
TV is designed to be addictive and I want to minimise that risk at least a
little!)
Regards,
Brooke
I do believe very much in unschooling yet tv is one area where I do monitor
the amount they watch. Each of my children can watch one program a week and
that is it!! That said, they can choose any program. If there is something
"special" on like that BBC program "Walking With Dinosaurs" I let them know
that if they were interested, they could watch that with me as well as their
own program.
In practice, I do find that they watch more than I would like because there
seem to be times when there are so many great film etc. on that I suggest
the kids might choose to watch but othertimes it works well.
Before the true unschoolers jump on my hypocrisy, I must point out in my
defence that I live in NZ where there are considerably more ads on than in
the States and no PBS so it is actually the extreme exposure to the barrage
of advertising that i am trying to monitor, not specifically the
programmes!! (not much of an excuse, is it?? *grin* still I do believe that
TV is designed to be addictive and I want to minimise that risk at least a
little!)
Regards,
Brooke
Nanci and Thomas Kuykendall
>Before the true unschoolers jump on my hypocrisy, I must point out in myI do agree that TV is additcive and I do not find it hypocritical to monitor how much tv a child watches. You would no more allow your child to eat nothing but candy for breakfast lunch and dinner than you should allow your child to drown themselves in tv. Most tv is brain candy, and too much candy makes you sick. I think this falls under the realm of parenting and discipline, not home/unschooling. These matters must be decided based on a child's personality and disposition and there is no standard way to address it. Every family/parent/child is different.
>defence that I live in NZ where there are considerably more ads on than in
>the States and no PBS so it is actually the extreme exposure to the barrage
>of advertising that i am trying to monitor, not specifically the
>programmes!!
>Regards,
>Brooke
Nanci K.
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libbygirl
Thanks Nanci!
I do find that as unschoolers the whole question of parenting becomes a good
deal more complex. For example some of the parents I know whose children are
schooled, see that their parenting only regards those areas deemed
non-educational! Whereas my parenting encompasses all that and a lot more!
As I learn to have yet more trust in my children (and see the unschooling
process succeeding so well as regards their "education" ) I find that his
trust is spilling over into more and more areas such as choosing their own
clothes, etc.
Yet other areas I find that I do make a final decision having tried to
separate my knee-jerk responses from my actual beliefs! Not always easy!!
For example, I was raised by a mother who insisted on three square meals a
day at very set times. Yet I am finding that although we all eat breakfast
together, lunch tends to not really happen! The kids kind of graze during
the day and help themselves as they want.
Even the baby (2yog) knows that she can help herself to the food on the
bottom shelf of the fridge whenever she wants it.
My automatic response was to stop this and insist that they "sat up to the
table and eat a PROPER meal" yet once I really thought about it, there is NO
reason (in our family) for this to happen so I have let it continue and now
I find that the kids are making good choices ie. they will decide whether or
not they have had "enough healthy food" for the day and therefore can have
some "unhealthy food" or not!
Yours, still confused but learning all the time!!
Brooke
Regards,
Brooke
I do find that as unschoolers the whole question of parenting becomes a good
deal more complex. For example some of the parents I know whose children are
schooled, see that their parenting only regards those areas deemed
non-educational! Whereas my parenting encompasses all that and a lot more!
As I learn to have yet more trust in my children (and see the unschooling
process succeeding so well as regards their "education" ) I find that his
trust is spilling over into more and more areas such as choosing their own
clothes, etc.
Yet other areas I find that I do make a final decision having tried to
separate my knee-jerk responses from my actual beliefs! Not always easy!!
For example, I was raised by a mother who insisted on three square meals a
day at very set times. Yet I am finding that although we all eat breakfast
together, lunch tends to not really happen! The kids kind of graze during
the day and help themselves as they want.
Even the baby (2yog) knows that she can help herself to the food on the
bottom shelf of the fridge whenever she wants it.
My automatic response was to stop this and insist that they "sat up to the
table and eat a PROPER meal" yet once I really thought about it, there is NO
reason (in our family) for this to happen so I have let it continue and now
I find that the kids are making good choices ie. they will decide whether or
not they have had "enough healthy food" for the day and therefore can have
some "unhealthy food" or not!
Yours, still confused but learning all the time!!
Brooke
Regards,
Brooke
[email protected]
In a message dated 3/28/00 12:16:01 PM Pacific Standard Time,
tn-k4of5@... writes:
<< I think this falls under the realm of parenting and discipline, not
home/unschooling. >>
I totally agree. I don't think that a parent is obligated to provide TV
in the first place. One issue for me is the expense of cable or satellite
TV. I just don't want to spend over $300 a year for TV. When we visit my
parents, we watch it sometimes and it's much more enjoyable than when we had
it some years back because it's a novelty. My kids still have one show they
like and so they ask my mom to record it, which she usually does.
If I did have TV, I would limit it because it does have an addictive
quality. Also, my TV is in the living room and I know I would get sick of it
being on too much. I don't feel that there's anything wrong with a parent
choosing to do things a certain way in his/her house or that doing so means a
person isn't a true unschooler.
Lucy
tn-k4of5@... writes:
<< I think this falls under the realm of parenting and discipline, not
home/unschooling. >>
I totally agree. I don't think that a parent is obligated to provide TV
in the first place. One issue for me is the expense of cable or satellite
TV. I just don't want to spend over $300 a year for TV. When we visit my
parents, we watch it sometimes and it's much more enjoyable than when we had
it some years back because it's a novelty. My kids still have one show they
like and so they ask my mom to record it, which she usually does.
If I did have TV, I would limit it because it does have an addictive
quality. Also, my TV is in the living room and I know I would get sick of it
being on too much. I don't feel that there's anything wrong with a parent
choosing to do things a certain way in his/her house or that doing so means a
person isn't a true unschooler.
Lucy