How much TV did YOU watch as a child?

[Heather in Neverland]

It all started with this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVQQjoFlsiA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

It is a fun compilation of theme songs from TV that Jimmy Fallon did on his show. Dh showed it to me and I knew every single one of them within a few notes.

 

Then we began to reminisce which shows we loved when we were kids. I could remember so many of them and even what night many of them were on. The conclusion I came to was that I watched A LOT of television as a kid.

 

The interesting thing though is that we only had one TV and we always watched TV together as a family. Many of my memories involve all of us watching our favorite shows together.

 

We talk so much now about limiting TV and not letting our kids watch it and part of that is the quality of TV shows that are out now. But it just makes me wonder if watching TV together as a family is such a "terrible" thing to do after all.

 

And it made me wonder if it was just my family and dh's family? Or did your family watch a lot of TV together too?

 

ETA: I just thought about something. I wonder if it has something to do with age? When did the TV-is-bad-for-kids era begin? I am in my 40s and I wonder if those in their 30s watched less TV as kids than those of us who are older?

 

 

.

Edited October 14, 2012 by Heather in NC

[The Girls' Mom]

A TV was on 24 hours a day at my house growing up. My mother slept with one on, and it was always background noise. I was the family weirdo that skulked about in her room doing strange things like reading and listening to the radio :tongue_smilie:So, the family as a whole watched WAY more TV than my family does now. I personally did not watch much, and I still don't. I've just never been able to get engrossed in it.

Edited October 14, 2012 by Apryl H

[LaxMom]

I knew them all except one, and one I know but can't place. It's funny that there is almost immediate recognition for Greatest American Hero, when it only lasted two years. :)

 

I didn't watch much tv as a kid. Those span multiple decades, so I've seen the shows in syndication as an adult (like MTM... I'm sure I didn't watch that as a kid, or All in the Family). Mostly, I remember watching the ABC weekly movie - Wizard of Oz, Rikki Tikki Tavi, the Hobbit... Sometimes, I'd watch MASH or WKRP with my dad, but I was mostly in bed by the time they came on.

 

My kids watch in much the same way I did: we watch on occasion, as a family. I think the screen time contention has more to do with the increase in technology with screens: tv AND computers AND games. Even if you watched every single one of those shows, you'd hardly be pushing 2 hrs a week during the span they were on.

[kwg]

I knew all those!:eek:

[NotSoObvious]

Not a lot at all. We weren't allowed to watch it during the week, then we were out and about on weekends.

We did get to watch it if we were sick.

 

I remember watching a lot of Mickey Mouse Club, then 90210 in jr. High.

[Donna]

We watched TV in the morning while eating breakfast before school and then at night we watched the news with my parents then the TV was on until we went to bed so we watched some game shows like Family Feud then a sitcom or special show. My mom watched soap operas during the afternoon.

 

In our house, the TV is on in the morning for 30-60 min. while I get ready then in the evening after 7 or 8pm once it gets dark. Sometimes dd will watch a 30 min. show during lunch or I will read to her or do some kind of schoolwork with her during that time. On the weekends we usually watch a movie together when the weather is cold. In the summer there is very little TV since we are usually busy doing something else.

[Heather in Neverland]

I should also mention that I don't think all TV was that "innocent" when I was a kid, either.

 

Sure, we watched Little House on the Prairie every week without fail. But we also watched Three's Company, Dynasty, Dukes of Hazzard and Mork and Mindy among others that were loaded with sexual innuendo.

 

There are definitely very few shows I can watch with my kids now but I don't think that much of the TV I watched then was all that good quality, either. But somehow I still have these positive family memories attached to it.

 

 

.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My mother allowed us an hour of tv per day, but we did watch some things with my dad also. It really wasn't much tv and certainly not as much as "average" these days. I watch way too much tv myself (usually while playing and working online) after the kids go to bed. For a long while, the kids weren't getting any tv, maybe a movie or two on the weekends; but now they are watching a movie almost daily. My first kids didn't watch anywhere near that much tv. No interest until they were older.

[Kathryn]

Too much apparently. I knew them all. We don't watch nearly as much now.

[elegantlion]

My dad worked for a TV station, we watched a lot. :D

 

We also didn't do a lot after school as my dad worked 2nd shift and my mom didn't drive. So, if we could play in the neighborhood we did. But we also spend a lot of time reading, studying, and listening to music. Of course if the Internet had been around, I probably wouldn't have watched so much TV.

[regentrude]

About twice a week 30 minutes to 1 hour.

[Parrothead]

We watched a lot of TV as a family, too. Although I started needing time to decompress (introvert) about high school so I spent a lot of evenings alone in my room reading.

 

My dad always has been a big movie/TV guy. He is the guy that will quote lines to you.

 

I remember the whole TV is bad for the kids campaign starting about the time I was in high school. So that would have been about 1980.

[Ottakee]

I should also mention that I don't think all TV was that "innocent" when I was a kid, either.

 

Sure, we watched Little House on the Prairie every week without fail. But we also watched Three's Company, Dynasty, Dukes of Hazzard and Mork and Mindy among others that were loaded with sexual innuendo.

 

.

 

I have noticed that too. When I watch reruns of the "good" shows from my childhood I am shocked about the clothing, lifestyles, innuendo, etc.

 

The TV was on at our house growing up from 6-7am until midnight. Basically if someone was awake, it was on. I didn't watch as much as some but I do remember a lot of TV.

 

My kids watch moderate amounts. Some weeks very little, and other weeks more. They do enjoy watching some REALLY old (like 50s) shows with dh. It is a great bonding thing, esp. in the long, cold winter nights.

[Ellie]

My *childhood* was the Mickey Mouse Club, My Friend Flicka, Fury, Rin Tin Tin, Leave it to Beaver, the Donna Reed Show, and Father Knows Best. :-) The Mickey Mouse Club was early afternoon--don't remember if it was daily or not, but seems as if it was. Father Knows Best, Donna Reed, and Leave it to Beaver were evening; I'm pretty sure I didn't see all the episodes. The others were half-hour, Saturday morning shows. I'm thinking that's when most of my television viewing was.

 

Most of the others were high school and early adulthood for me. Some of those shows I only watched a few episodes because I didn't care for them; I'm pretty sure my daughters didn't watch any of them, because the shows came on at 8 (California time), and dds were in bed by then (yes, they missed Little House on the Prairie and the Waltons).

[Night Elf]

I'm in my 40s and I recognized every single one, able to sing along with them. I played outside a lot as a little girl, but was staying inside more when I became a teenager.

 

My mom was and still is a huge tv watcher. In fact, she refused to go to the hospital when she was having labor pains with me because the 10:00pm movie wasn't over yet. My dad was flipping out. I was born 30 mins. after they arrived. :001_huh: Silly woman.

[stripe]

Sure, we watched Little House on the Prairie every week without fail. But we also watched Three's Company, Dynasty, Dukes of Hazzard and Mork and Mindy among others that were loaded with sexual innuendo.

.

 

it's interesting, they were, but it was often a sort of vague, giggling flirtateous type of innuendo rather than so crass and direct, and it could be missed if you were too young, I think, kind of like those wink, wink asides in cartoons.

 

I didn't watch much tv as a kid but I do have a vague memory of watching Mork and Mindy and thinking it was funny. Not Dynasty or Dukes. I watched Little House and CHiPs in reruns in the afternoon at times. I think I'm not old enough to have seen these when they came out. I have no particular memory of watching shows as a family. I remember watching The Cosby Show too, but I just don't remember anyone else watching it with me.

 

What I really lived for was those Afterschool Specials! ;)

[JenC3]

A Lot. My parents did not limit it at all. I LOVE movies. Let's just say I watched Girls Just Wanna Have Fun 7 tmes in one day:001_huh:

 

But I also read constantly.

[Night Elf]

Oh, and tv got more interesting when I was in high school ('81 - '86) because we got a VCR and started recording shows we missed during the day or late at night after we were in bed!

[Violet Crown]

Our tv was on from the moment I got home from school to the moment my mom came home from work - often enough quite late at night. Mornings, weekends, all the time. Plus due to complicated circumstances I missed nearly a year of school total from second to third grade, and you can bet I spent that time watching tv. My mom was educated and intelligent, but was an engineer who didn't read a lot and there weren't many books in the house.

 

I was really good at those morning game shows.

[mytwomonkeys]

i watched saturday morning cartoons without fail (and you had to get up early because they didn't last all day). sunday night disney movies were a bribe used by my mom to make us behave throughout the week, lol. i loved after school specials! and every night we watched family shows (well, if that's what you want to call them).... greatest american hero, C.H.I.P.S, alice, mork and mindy, love boat, fantasy island, three's company, etc. i also loved ALL of the shows by sid & marty kroft. lastly, i loved holiday specials!

 

i was outside A LOT though. i lived in a neighborhood where we would leave the house from sun-up til sun-down on the weekend and in the summer.

 

ETA - in high school i only watched Mtv (when it was still music videos - i graduated in 89). i used to stay up late on sunday to watch 120 minutes:)

Edited October 14, 2012 by mytwomonkeys

[DawnM]

I only watched TV the years we lived in the States.

 

In Africa, I envied those who lived in the city and could watch TV (it was only on from about 5pm-midnight each day and only 2 channels that I recall. I am sure it has changed since then.)

 

I did know most of those theme songs though even if I never watched the shows. I have never watched Good Times, The Jeffersons, Threes Company, or a few others, but I knew the theme songs. Only a few stumped me.

 

Some of the other shows (Friends, Golden Girls, Saved by the Bell were on after my childhood!)

 

Dawn

Edited October 14, 2012 by DawnM

[Laura Corin]

I was allowed one hour a day, sometimes more if we were watching as a family.

 

Laura

[Haiku]

I am in my 40s and I wonder if those in their 30s watched less TV as kids than those of us who are older?

 

I think older people watched less tv. I can remember when there wasn't 24-hour tv. Programming began at a certain time and ended at a certain time, and if you turned on the tv outside of that time period, you saw the test pattern.

 

And I'm not that old.

 

I think the problem is getting worse because kids have tvs with hundreds of channels and computers and game systems and cell phones. They are tethered to electronics all the time. Kids don't play in the neighborhood anymore. They stay inside and play on electronics.

 

And I know plenty of kids who, even when they go to friends' houses to play, play on electronics together.

 

To me, the whole "tv is bad" thing is because it crowds out other activities. It's much easier to sit and be passively entertained than it is to put forth effort to do something.

 

I think tv's seduction differs amongst people. Two of my kids would sit and watch tv all the time if I let them. My oldest has zero motivation to DO anything. She would much rather just sit there. My son has things he likes to do, but he really LIKES his tv shows. They are his preferred form of entertainment because they are entertaining to him and easier than trying to read a book. My middle child likes tv fine but is perfectly content to do other things as well.

 

But yes, I think kids these days watch WAY more tv.

 

Tara

[abbeyej]

Very little tv for me growing up. PBS when I was very young, after that movies... Very little regular tv 'til I was 12 or so, and never a huge amount time-wise. As you say, we only ever had 1 tv (it was 2 by the time I graduated from high school) and most tv watching was done as a group, not individually.

 

We aren't raising our own kids all that differently. We have one tv, and it's relatively rare that anyone watches completely on his or her own. Technology has changed enough that the kids do occasionally watch a show or movie on an iPad, so that gives us another "tv screen", but it's not a daily occurrence.

Edited October 14, 2012 by abbeyej

[nukeswife]

I knew the all, and we had no limits on tv when we were kids. I think when I was about 13 and my brother 10 we got our own TVs in our rooms, but we still watched many things together as a family.

 

I remember watching All in the Family, Gomer Pyle and the Jeffersons with my Dad. I remember watching many, many more things with my mom, because my dad worked a lot of 2nd and 3rd shifts.

 

My mom and I were ER junkies and never missed an episode.

 

Watching TV with our dad came into play when we were at his funeral this summer. It had been really hard for my brother and I, since our Dad was only 61 and the cancer he got took him in a year. At his funeral, which was a military one they played "The Army Goes Rolling Along" and my brother and I started to giggle with each other, not because it was funny or we were inappropriate, but because we both at the same time remembered how when we'd be home sick from school our dad would bring us some soup and we'd sit and watch Gomer Pyle reruns.

[Annie Laurie]

I'm in my 30s and knew every single one. We had no limits on tv, but hardly watched as a family. My brothers and I each had a tv in our room from something like 3rd or 4th grade on. I was a huge reader, but apparently found plenty of time to watch tv too.

 

I can't believe my parents let us watch shows like Three's Company. :001_huh: I think most of the innuendo went over my head though.

 

My favorite show as a kid was I Love Lucy, and it's still my favorite to this day, like comfort food to me. I have the entire series on dvd and watch an episode when I need a pick me up.

[Shelsi]

We had 2 TVs but only 1 had cable. We could turn it on whenever we wanted however my dad could just sit down and change the channel to whatever he wanted and he did often.

 

My mom had the other TV in her bedroom and I remember we used to make nachos & cheese every Friday night and sit in her bed eating them and watching TGIF.

 

 

I think we watched a lot in the winter and not so much when the weather was nice. We had a lot of friends in the neighborhood and a ton of freedom. I remember riding my bike down the state highway at least once a week to the Dairy Queen at only 7-8 yrs old and my mom gave me the money for it. So we didn't really want to be inside watching TV. We were much happier exploring the woods, creek, riding our bikes to the gas station to buy soda, etc.

 

ETA: I'm in my early 30's. Our family right now only has 1 TV and we only watch about 1-2 hrs a day total. The kids usually watch about an hour and dh & I usually watch an hour in the evenings.

[Mergath]

I'm 29, and when I grew up the tv was on whenever someone was awake. That's just what we did. If you got up first in the morning, you turned on the tv. I watched a LOT of tv until I discovered the public library. We pretty strictly limit tv for dd now, but honestly, watching all that tv didn't seem to hurt me that much- I was reading at a post-secondary level when I took my first standardized test in first grade.

[Wheres Toto]

We didn't have a television most of my childhood but I used to watch at my grandparents on the weekends. We finally got a tv when I was in my early teens but no cable.

 

I knew everyone of those songs but there were 2 I couldn't remember the name of the show. Is there a list somewhere?

 

I watched Three's Company, The Jeffersons, Archie Bunker, MASH, Love Boat, Sandford and Son, Greatest American Hero, I Love Lucy, A Team.

 

I think there was a bunch of shows on Friday, Saturday or Sunday night in a row - Love Boat, Fantasy Island one night. The Jeffersons and Archie Bunker another night. Those are what I remember watching at my grandparents.

 

Saved by the Bell was my daughter's childhood. I was an adult for Friends.

[Joker]

I knew most of them. We watched tv together almost every night, and on weekdays during certain sporting seasons. We only had one tv, and it was usually turned on after dinner. My family today does things pretty much the same way today, but if there's nothing on we want to watch we usually all play a video game together. We all still get plenty of time to do other things and lots of outdoor time.

[stripe]

I think older people watched less tv. I can remember when there wasn't 24-hour tv. Programming began at a certain time and ended at a certain time, and if you turned on the tv outside of that time period, you saw the test pattern.

 

 

I remember that late at night or really early in the morning, but I wasn't usually awake or watching tv at those times. My mom didn't approve of morning tv.

[Dory]

We were allowed a maximum of two hours of tv per day and then we were told to shut it off except on Sundays. My mom was big on us doing something constructive with our time and energy. We were only allowed to read for one hour a day too.

[AngieW in Texas]

We watched a lot of tv. I figure at least 2 hours every weekday. I probably watched 3-5 hours on Saturday and another 2 hours on Sundays.

 

I regularly watched Star Trek and Dr. Who reruns that aired every night. My goal was to figure out which episode I was watching within the first 60 seconds of the episode.

 

We watched Dukes of Hazard, Buck Rogers, Knight Rider, Barbara Mandrell, Osmond Show, lots of stuff.

 

At my house, the girls and I watch a one-hour show almost every night. They each get to pick one hour of programming to watch Saturday and Sunday mornings. We watch a movie on Saturday night.

 

The shows we are watching together that are airing now are

Revolution - 14yo, dh, and me

Cupcake Wars - 14yo, 17yo, and me

Once Upon a Time - 14yo, 17yo, and me

Young Justice - 14yo, 17yo, 19yo and me (19yo calls after the show so we can all fangirl about it together)

Grimm - 14yo, 17yo and me

 

Dh mostly watches football and we all flee the vicinity during this. He also watches golf. The 14yo will often watch golf with him and occasionally I will too.

Edited October 14, 2012 by AngieW in Texas

[kalanamak]

WE didn't have one until my sister bought my mother one with her first paycheck. I would have been 4. I was allowed only an hour a day, strict, and gave it up at age 12 as really boring. When I do see some now, it seems overblown or idiotic or both.

 

Over the years, I have watched nature shows when I'm too sick to read, and a bit of British comedy.

 

My parents finally got cable when my dad was 90 and not so mobile. My mother, in her dwindling years, would garden for half an hour, and then come in, prop up her feet, and watch the gardening channel for half an hour and then go back out.

 

So, I come from a prefers-the-written-word family.

[Guest cathyee]

During childhood there were very less number of TV programme for kids . My friend didn't allow to spend more time on tv room. So i have seen only cartoon programme and i have spent very short time to see TV.

[Jeannie in NJ]

I am 59 and we had one tv (still only have 1 tv, have never had more than 1) and every night after dinner, the entire family would sit with ice cream and watch one of the 3 channels that we got. World of Disney, Ed Sullivan (my history teacher gave us an assignment to watch The Beatles when they were on), Bonanza, Gilligan's Island, Dream of Jeannie, etc.

 

AFter school I would watch Bowery Boys, Hullabalu (sp) Where the Action Is. Would get up really early on Sat to watch cartoons. Also it was an event when we stayed up to hear the National Anthem before the test pattern came on. Even tho we watched a lot of tv, I also would go to the library every Sat and check out the limit of 7 books to read for the week and spent tons of time playing outside.

 

Now I only watch some Disney with my dc. Used to watch Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana, Zack and Cody (still watch Z and C in re-runs) and now watch Good Luck Charlie. That is all I watch now.

 

We do watch a lot of movies, dh, ds and I watched Avengers last night.

[Ghee]

I watched a variety of shows, I remember shows that my husband doesn't, but he watched WAY more tv than I did. I might see a show a time or two, he watched every episode. Mostly, my mom and I watched the Friday night line up (Cosby Show, Golden Girls, 227, and the like). We also watched PBS for some of the British shows like Are You Being Served. The rest of the week, the tv was off. My mom never MADE me turn it off, but we just didn't watch, I liked to read or play with my Barbies. I had friends over every weekend and we only watched tv at night if they were on a sleepover - we had too much playing to do during the day! LOL

 

ETA: My kids would like to watch a lot of TV, it's their pass the time activity of choice, but I do conciously monitor their usage. Weekends, I give a little more leeway because they like to watch shows with my stepdad. During the week, we try not to have it on much. The kids and I (and many times my mom) watch Dr Who, My husband and I watched Grimm last spring, and he also watched Once Upon a Time with the kids and me. That was about it, unless I had it on for school. Sometimes the kids whined about it, particularly if we'd had an off day with a lot of tv and then went back to less tv. They really do prefer to plug in and let it entertain them. I don't know why the difference....

Edited October 14, 2012 by Ghee

[JessReplanted]

We watched tons of TV. And, I watched it with my siblings, but not with my parents - they had their own TV in their bedroom. We did not have any rules about what we could watch or how much we could watch. :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: I think I knew all of them, and I agree - theme songs rock! ;)

Edited October 14, 2012 by JessReplanted

[hsbaby]

I was a child of the 80's. We watched as much TV as we wanted. It was just always on. It's always on at our house too. I guess I'm just used to it. The kids could give or take it. They probably watch less than I ever did. I'm not on the strictly limit TV bandwagon, obviously. I guess if my kids were obsessed and did nothing else, but it hasn't been an issue.

[MotherMayI]

I was raised by the TV and the radio. You want me on your trivia team.

 

 

Same here!

[SKL]

My parents did not restrict it. My mom used to be against it until she noticed her oldest son lagging behind in speech, and got convinced to let him watch Sesame Street. He started talking and the rest was history.

 

When I was in school, my mom worked outside the home, so we got to watch whatever we could find on TV if we wanted to - or not. Then after supper we could sit with our parents and watch what they watched until bedtime.

 

There were de facto restrictions. We had 1 TV and 8 people in our family, so we had to negotiate and didn't always feel like watching what was on. Also, there were only 5 channels, most of which didn't show anything kid-friendly most hours. But, we definitely watched more than what is "recommended" today.

 

Funny thing is that even with "unlimited" TV, we, on our own, still read many books, taught ourselves to play piano, formed clubs, cooked and cleaned and babysat, organized snow parties and zoo trips, kept healthier than the average kid today, and kept up with our schoolwork. Hmm.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I was a kid in the '70's. I watched whatever whenever. That said I also remember being outside and reading a lot too so I must have self regulated fairly well.

[Galatea]

We watched a lot of TV, but like you, we had only one TV in the house and we watched everything together.

 

After school we watched things like Charles in Charge, Saved by the Bell, and some of the afterschool cartoons.

 

I vividly remember waking up as early as possible on Saturday mornings, watching a few minutes of the colored bars waiting anxiously for our Saturday morning cartoons to start. Once adults woke up, we had to go outside and weed the garden on Saturdays, so in the summer our morning cartoons were like gold to us.

 

In the evenings we would sometimes watch TV, but also sometimes play board games, play outside or play in the playroom so it wasn't always TV. And evenings and weekends were for wrestling and football also. :) I grew up watching lots of WWF wrestling (the days of Hulk Hogan and Jake the Snake) and was saturated with college football. Oh, and westerns.

 

My husband and I also only have one TV in the house. Sometimes we let our daughter watch something on the computer if we're watching football or a movie she's not interested in, but she's still young and it's in the same room with us. I don't have an issue with TV programs or screen time in itself. I am lucky that it doesn't seem to affect her behavior too badly. If it was a problem, I would limit it more than I do. For us, it is much more about supervision of the content, even at such a young age.

[MrsBasil]

TV wasn't always on, but there weren't a lot of restrictions about when it could be on. Although when the weather was nice, we were outside and we did a lot of other things as well.

 

My parents didn't watch a lot of shows, so we followed suit. From the time I was 12 I had a TV in my room, but even that wasn't always on. I read a lot.

 

I did recognize a lot of the theme songs, but ones like Golden Girls, Mary Tyler Moore, Cheers, and Happy Days were because of having cable/Nick at Night. There were some I didn't recognize at all.

 

We also had cable from the time I was 4 or 5, so I had a wider variety of stuff to watch. Not necessarily good stuff, but I do remember watching Avonlea on the Disney Channel. :)

 

My mom didn't watch TV. My dad watched Simpsons, X-Files, Letterman, football, and Cubs games. We watched along with him.

Edited October 14, 2012 by MrsBasil

[Element]

I would say I watched a lot of TV when I was maybe sixth grade and younger, but no one agrees with me because I guess it wasn't the "right" TV. :tongue_smilie:We only had a few channels so I never saw the cool stuff on cable. My dh still talkes about things (videos, shows, DJs, etc.) on early 90s MTV and then says, "Oh, that's right. You probably don't know what/who that is."

 

I watched a lot of kid and family shows, but once I grew out of those I kind of gave up on TV. I never have really liked comedies. The only thing I watched during my early teen years was The X-Files, and I don't think I watched anything as an older teen.

 

ETA: Dh, Ds, Dd, and I all learned to read from watching PBS shows around age 3 or 4. We've never restricted PBS watching. (Although, really, we get fewer than 5 other channels so I don't have to do a lot of television restriction anyway.)

Edited October 14, 2012 by Element

[Caroline]

I didn't grow up watching a lot of tv. We were all too busy for it. My parents kept us busy all of the time I think to keep us off drugs. I remember watching Dumes of Hazzard, but we had to go to bed when Dallas came on. We did watch The Greatest American Hero, Cosby, and Family Ties some times. But, I was out at ballet, theater, piano, choir, something many evenings.

 

My kids don't watch a lot of tv. They are self-regulating. And I know I am lucky to have kids who will self-regulate.

[justLisa]

I did not watch much tv.

 

I was SUCH a weird kid. I would wake up early on the weekends to watch the bass fisherman show:lol:

 

I always watched the Lakers and Jazz with my dad.

 

I watched cartoons every once in a while.

[I.Dup.]

I watched a lot of TV growing up. Easily a couple hours a day, at least. My parents definitely used it as my babysitter. I was born in 1982. I don't feel that it harmed me at ALL. My kids watch a lot of TV as well. It's just not a hill to die on for me. My kids are all very bright, active, physically fit, I'm not worried about it at all. We do limit what channels/shows they can watch though.

[mommymilkies]

I was raised by the TV and the radio. You want me on your trivia team.

 

:iagree: I read Set Free Childhood, and I just disagree that tv and media are always bad. They can be great learning tools. Obviously, they can be misused, like everything else, but I turned out somewhat ok and I was a tv fanatic as a kid. I must say some stuff we watched was waaaaay worse back then, too. :lol:

[cathmom]

:iagree: I read Set Free Childhood, and I just disagree that tv and media are always bad. They can be great learning tools. Obviously, they can be misused, like everything else, but I turned out somewhat ok and I was a tv fanatic as a kid. I must say some stuff we watched was waaaaay worse back then, too. :lol:

I've always disagreed as well. We don't really restrict TV and it was not restricted for us as children. We all love to read and learn and do other things as well, and none of our dc are overweight or out of shape.