Yes. I know. This is news. NOT! I write this because of the daily battle I have with my kids over how much TV they can watch and which shows are appropriate. I’ve found, with my three older children, if they watch too much TV, their behavior gets really funky. They talk back, they’re sullen and just downright disagreeable.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I love TV. I was raised on Bugs Bunny and Monty Python. Saturday nights, when I slept over my best friend’s house, we would turn on the TV at 11:30 and watch Saturday Night Live and all its inappropriateness. I LOVE TV! But as a mother, I’ve seen the damage it can do when it is watched to the extreme. I’ve also seen the benefits from keeping the TV off.
About a month ago, we had an experimental “Turn the TV Off” week. I warned my kids about it two weeks in advance. In celebration of the no week of TV, we went to Barnes and Noble and got books to read. We played games at night. We had more conversations. It was glorious. The kids did not mind not turning the TV on at all. It was difficult at first. We would get home and they would whine about turning on cartoons. But we spent the whole week with no TV. Now we do watch TV, but there are limits to how much they can watch. One hour a day during the week and a DVD on the weekends.
TV corrupts because it limits what you can do. If you are a multitasker, like me, you can have the TV on and still accomplish things. I can watch TV and do other tasks but it does slow me down because it is distracting. My kids can only focus on TV when it is on because of it’s hypnotic lure. Their eyes become wide and concentric circles appear. The spell can only be broken when the TV is turned off.
So, I’ve decided that less is more. We will be slowly decreasing our TV activity. I will still enjoy episodes of the Simpsons and we’ll watch the occaisional movie together but I’d rather spend the time talking with my kids and playing with them – while they still want to spend the time with me!
Managing Motherhood 