Anti-TV Arguments and links

Editor's Note: This is offered as a kind of token balance, because I have not found any problems with letting TV be just another option in my kids' lives, nor have I distinguished between TV and watching videos or DVDs or being on the computer (possibly watching videos or DVDs there).

Mary Ellen, an unschooling mom, commented on The Plug-In Drug:

Marie Winn insists that TV itself is addictive. But later in her book she says that mothers have to entice their young children to watch TV. Apparently, very young children somehow sense that TV is not real, so they have to be taught how to watch it. Once the kids are hooked, though, mother will not be able to tear their little eyes away from its power.

Another thing that comes out in the later chapters is the author's attitude about children. Basically, they are manipulative little creatures who only want to do what is easy and fun. Modern parents have lost their natural authority over children, so we have to resort to bribery to get them to do what we want. Parents in the good old days didn't have the problems we have today, because they (the parents) insisted on regular naptimes. As children grew, this forced naptime became quiet time, because the children had become accustomed to staying alone in their rooms whether they wanted to or not. They knew that when mother said quiet time, she meant it! Mothers who devoted their children's preschool years to teaching their children how to use scissors and paste (messy, but worth it in the long run!) would have children who could make collages while mother had time to get her important things done. Therefore, the children knew how to entertain themselves.

They didn't need TV! Modern parents do not have to work at parenting, because we rely on TV to keep our children busy and out of our way.

I am not kidding! I have summarized, but the tone is the same as the book's. It just keeps getting more and more absurd and disgusting.

— Mary Ellen

Television is an Hallucination

From the UK Amazon site, a review of

Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television:

Jerry Mander has a lot of convincing arguments in this book. However, most of them are not really about the harmfulness of TV. The real title of this book should be Four Arguments for the Elimination of Capitalism. Most of the specific anti-TV arguments are spurious and fantastic. I hear that David Bianculli's Teleliteracy presents the other side effectively (unfortunately, it's out of print)."

Jewish Anti-TV site, "The Truth About Television," with many links to similar other arguments. [The site has removed that, but the WayBack Machine has it, with a link to the longer version, too, which begins by creating a parallel with ancient Jews discovering the evil pagan practice of child-sacrifice, and goes on to liken TV to that.]

Waldorf Homeschoolers anti-media page. (I've also added a Waldorf image at the bottom of the page, the chalk art)

"Me, my life got so much better from watching TV less. As a result, I had enough time to invent TV-B-Gone! My idea was to give others a similar chance — so I created a fun way to get the message out there that turning a TV on or off really is a choice. Anywhere, anytime. Please, go out there and choose."

Okay, I'm trying to provide anti-TV links, but I get so frustrated with the total BULLSHIT there. I was going to link this article (Watching TV 'is bad for children') without comment, but the second and third paragraphs are like a huge turd in the lemonade:

Each hour in front of the TV increased a child's chances of attention deficit disorder by 10%, their research in the Pediatrics journal showed.

The study of 1,345 children showed three hours TV a day made children 30% more likely to have the disorder.

Children who were exposed to the unrealistic levels of stimulation at a young age continued to expect this in later life, leading to difficulty dealing with the slower pace of school and homework, he said.

But wait!! The article's LAST two paragraphs are this:

The researchers admitted there could be problems in the study as the parents' views may not be totally accurate.

Also it was not possible to know whether the children already had attention problems early on that attracted them to TV viewing.

Perhaps I'm incapable, for reasons of integrity, of providing an anti-TV page. Here, then. Find your own:

Here's one: Your children, by manner of the infernal boxes in your homes, the televisions, are being now schooled to kill, to sin. And many parents shall be murdered by their own children! Another page on that same site says "This world is polluted with sin. Satan, the devil, is capturing young souls to take them to hell with rock music and sex. MTV is satan's way. Please don't listen. It is satanic." - Our Lady of the Roses, November 14, 1992, from the response dictated to Veronica to a teenage girl. [I didn't make up that citation. Couldn't have. They used quotation marks on exact words for something that was what a teenage girl told Veronica that a particular incarnation of the Virgin Mary said. I think it's as valid as some of the "scientific" anti-TV things you'll find, though.] Marty was wanting to go to his friend's house, but got involved watching something Holly was watching. He saw the clock and said "I'm going to be late because of you and your EVIL TV." Neither of them knew a thing about the "evil TV" conversation, so I said "OOH! Come look!" They looked at the picture above and became very serious. We all agreed that it's a scarier image than anything we've ever seen on TV.

This art is more original

White Dot was started in 1996 by Jean Lotus as a newsletter for people who don't watch television. In the same year David Burke launched the British edition by standing on a busted TV set in front of a sign saying "Get A Life" near Westminster Abbey and reading out a letter to Prince Charles asking him not to televise his coronation.
. . . .
In 2005 White Dot helped publicise and sell the TV-B-Gone, a keyring that turns off any television. To launch this modest revolution we got volunteers in London, Brighton, Cornwall, Edinburgh and other cities to zap TV sets in cafes and pubs.

Kill your Television
(Turn off your TV dot com, no longer maintained)

How about this art!

These with the gun coming out though, aren't as similar.

On Facebook (a screen), transferred with a digital camera (likely had a screen), transferred electronically here, even though it began as chalk art in New Zealand: