how much television

[the simple life]

Has anyone here thrown away their television sets?
I never watch tv and I mean never. I can't remember the last time I watched it, probably somewhere along the lines of 2 years ago.
I just don't like it or anything that was ever on and prefer to read if I have time to relax.
I limit how much time I allow my children to waste out of their lives sitting in front of the black hole I will call tv.
I know there are some decent shows for children but there are very few and most have to much adult content and violence even for shows that are actually aimed at young kids.
Last month I had the floor in the living room refinished and we took the tv and the rest of the furniture out of there for the week.
When the floors were dried we put all the furniture back except the tv.
The kids got use to it not being there after a day and they were doing much more constructive things.
They have always ridden bikes everyday and they love to do arts and crafts anyway, but the young ones were even taking out math workbooks to do on their own during that week.I didn't have to prompt them never mind fight with them to work on math problems.
I figured if they could go that long without it then they would live a little longer without it and have not put it back.
Once in a while we would bring a tv and dvd player into my room and everyone would pile onto the big bed and watch a movie together.
Especially on rainy or snowy days, or if someone was sick in bed I would go rent a video to watch in bed.
The kids love to do that and I enjoy it too and I will still do that for them, I just don't have an interest in having it in our lives on a daily basis.
So far I think because its summer and the kids play outside alot there hasn't been much complaining. The older kids have jobs and go out with friends and all that so its not much of an issue with them.
I am sure with the fall and winter coming it will become more of an issue, except for the two kids who will be away at college.
I am wondering if anyone has thrown away the tv and if so why and how long has it been.

 

[Beekissed]

Still have the TV but have never had it hooked up to anything except a VCR/DVD player. If we feel like using that as a source of entertainment, then we do so. Even that amount of TV watching is somewhat addictive for my children. I can't imagine what it would be like if we had cable or dish. Same with video games. I've never bought video games or players but the boys seemed to inherit a few over the years. They last about an hour before a fight breaks out and I box them up for another year. Then, someone will be up in the building looking for something and see the box and they give it another go. It never works, so now they don't even try. They know I will ban it again, so why bother.

I don't allow anything in my house that is going to cause undue strife. No scarey movies (slasher or demonic in nature), no excessive cursing or nudity, etc.

Books! Books are good. Board games, card games, outside activities, spirited conversations...all the things that can happen if the TV is OFF!

I had my boy build me a set of shelves in the corner of the living room, on which to place the TV. I plan to sew a pretty curtain to pull across the shelf and I was discussing this with the kids and they were asking me why in the world I wanted to do that? I told them I have always hated the idea of the TV sitting in a living room with all the furniture gathered around it like some kind of a shrine. The description of a black hole is so fitting, Simple Life! This blank eye staring at me even while not on is sometimes disconcerting. The boys think I'm crazy but I just would feel better if the TV is not the focal point of our living room. It becomes an object of importance if one gives it a place of importance. Me? I would like to pull the curtain on it for most of the time and focus on just being humans on the Earth and how wonderful that really is! Of course, I was raised without a TV in the house at all, so its easier for me to live without it than most folks, I would guess.

 

[ticks]

We have TV, but only watch good shows, no junk. Not on sunny days though.

 

[nccountrygirl]

I never turn the tv on in my house. My DH will turn the one on in the LR when he wakes up but it's tuned to one of the Christian channels and thats ok by me. I live by the saying garbage in, garbage out. If I choose to watch tv it's got to be something that will feed my mind not just waste my time.

 

[punkin]

We rarely have the tv on before 9 pm, unless it's to watch the news right before supper. There are only a few shows that I like to watch. I'm sure tv watching will increase when it gets dark earlier and colder.

 

[Cassandra]

We do have a television set but no cable/dish. The tv is mainly a Rockband device. LOL We have an Xbox 360 (my husband's toy) that we also use as a media center. We watch some movies. Sometimes we will go for weeks that we don't watch any and then a weekend will come up where we watch 4 in one night.

On the other hand, we use the computers a lot. We have more computers in the house than people. (I think we have 7 computers at the moment and 4 people.Lol) After we put little B to bed, I will do my surfing and maybe watch some shows online. We have cable internet access, so I can do the streaming video. I like Lost, House, and Samantha Who (all of which I can't watch right now because they are in reruns.) Can't wait for them to start back up in the fall. I watch them while I am knitting.

Little B, our 4 year old, won't sit down for much TV. He has movies that he likes, but he won't sit through more than half an hour of them. (dh) John tries to get B to sit with him on Saturday morning and watch cartoons (which we've downloaded onto the computer and watch through the media center) because John remembers doing this with his dad, who died when John was 10. But B won't do much of that, either. We also got B an Ion and Clickstart (educational consoles that hook up to the TV.) He doesn't touch them. He will get on my computer and play the Spore Creature Creator, though, which I will allow him to do while I'm cooking dinner.

Cassandra

 

[FarmerChick]

I absolutely hate my tv BUT I absolutely love my tv also.

I let Nicole (3) watch Noggin and other great learning shows for her and she loves them. Mostly she is outside with me working the farm and when she comes in hot and tired she rests and watches great kid shows on cable. Honestly, she has learned ALOT from these shows.

I watch tv at night. I have some favorite shows I am addicted too....I read while the commercials are on...LOL...but Tony loves tv as a source of relaxation also.

I hate the cable prices but won't part with them....so tv for me is a great thing and a lousey thing....but I am definitely not willing to ever give it up.

 

[the simple life]

So far its been more of a non issue than I thought it would be with the kids having no television.
The only time my husband brings it in to watch is when the Red Sox are playing and then he returns it to storage.
He usually listens to the news on the radio anyway when he is driving.
I read two newspapers a day so we don't miss television news which I hated anyway because of those overacting newscasters who deliver the most horrific news with a big smile on their face.
My kids have always been the type that can occupy themselves though, they love to color, draw and all kinds of arts and crafts when they are stuck inside, otherwise they run out to the yard as soon as breakfast is over.
I just feel its a big waste of everyone's time.
Like I said I will rent something occasionally to watch as a family.I allow the Veggie Tales vidoes and a couple of others on that idea if its been raining for days on end. I just don't want them to be able to access it whenever they want, I know people who use the tv as a babysitter and it stays on all day.
Even when we had the tv hooked up I use to unhook one of the cables in the back so that they couldn't turn it on in the morning and watch cartoons for hours.
They had to come to me and wait for me to hook it up and then I would pick the channels they could watch.
We also had the parental blocks on alot of the channels.
Too many kids will turn the cartoons on in the morning and watch them all day, its not like when we were kids and the cartoons ended before noon time.
Now kids can watch cartoons or kids shows 24 hours a day
if they want.
What I do sometimes is if there is a show they like and ask to watch I will buy the book of the same show for them to learn to read.
For instance my kids use to ask to watch the Backyardigans show, so I bought the books for them.
I have always hoped to pass on my love of reading to them, I can read a book a day if I have the time,and I go stir crazy if I don't have some type of reading material on hand for when I get my down time at night after they all go to bed.No matter how tired I am at night I like to read at least a little bit.
Books are a great way to learn and I don't want them to have to compete with television.
Right now the tv isn't a big deal, but I know the colder weather is coming soon and thats why I am wondering if anyone goes all winter without tv.
I know I can still limit it to how much I want to allow, just curious if anyone's kids gave it up all together because they wanted to.
Beekissed I hear you on those video games, we went through the exact same thing.
THe fighting over those games are insane. I remember working until the wee hours one time and coming home and crawling into bed, only to be woken a little later by screaming and yelling. Of course it was over a video game they had put on as soon as they woke up.
I ran into the room and yanked the whole thing out of the tv cords and all. I never said a word, just ripped it out and went back to bed.
My kids and husband (who was trying to find out what was going on) just stood there with their mouths open.
Later on when I got up no one said a word about the games and it was over a year before they came across them in the attic and we gave it another try.
It was probably a week before they were taken away again.
This was years ago and they never did get them back. Some of the games that have come out now are so much more shockingly graphic and violent I can't believe it.
I have a son who is 17 and wants to play video games, and since the others close to his age are away at college and lost interest in them anyway, he wouldn't have anyone to fight with. The other kids are too young to play the games in his age bracket.
BUT, he isn't exactly going to want to play pac man or mario brothers and I don't like the other options.
Beekissed I also know what you mean by having the tv in the living room like a shrine when you don't use it half the time. Thats why I left ours in the storage room after the floors were refinished. I didn't see the point in having it take up space.
The curtains are a great idea. I like those wooden cabinets they make to hide the tv too, but they are expensive and take up more room.

 

[enjoy the ride]

Many years ago, my tv broke at a time when I did not really have the money to spend on a new one. There were a couple of months of withdrawl then I was fine. I found I had acres more time to get things done so did not replace the set for a few years. Eventually I did but it would have been more fruitful not to.
TV is a black hole of life- your life goes into it and leaves nothing behind. And spreads its version of life which seems to be very mean and small.
However internetting can be very bad too- it's good to learn self sontrol about that anyway.

 

[nccountrygirl]

My dear dad very fittingly called a TV a BOOB TUBE. We were not allowed to watch TV during the school week when I was coming up, and could only watch it on the weekends if my parents thought there was something on worth wasting time over. I read alot growing up and still do, I can find more fantasy in my mind with a book then I'll ever find watching a TV.