Janet
19-08-2008, 07:52 PM
TV free - the logistics?
Anastasia
I am drawn more and more to trying to be as TV free as possible. However I have a few issues. One is that I, myself, love watching TV. It exposes me to things I wouldn't have even known about, it provides an escapism on shitty days, etc. Books do too, yes, but I have to be interested in a subject to search it out, whereas with TV sometimes flicking around I will find something that turns out to be fascinating. Plus reading does take longer LOL. I LOVE reading but I find I don't do much at the moment.
The second issue is my partner. He would definitely not be cool with freecycling the TV. I have to take into account his needs as well. But I know if the TV is there, it will be watched.
I don't want to hide the TV from the kids, and only get it out when they are not around. I feel uneasy about that, it seems deceptive and doesn't fulfil my need for authenticity. However I rely on the TV too much.
The other fear is that without TV I will just swap TV for the internet (and that Kira will do similar, swap TV for computer time). I'm not as bothered by Kira being on the computer as it is much more interactive but it's still "screen time".
I'm not sure what I am asking. Personal anecdotes, your experience of going TV free, doing it with a partner who is not in agreement, how you manage, what you do if there are shows you really love LOL (like I adore So You Think You Can Dance hehe). Advice, empathy, whatever you would like to share!
4andlearning
well we aren't dvd free but we are TV free.
something is wrong with the antena<sp> and we haven't never fixed it so i didn't have to have the fight with dh about going tv free.this is our second house we have lived in that this has been the case.
but yes i do use the computer instead.
iam try at the moment to reduce the kids to a 1hr a day of watching the box.
i use my computer time so to zone out because i need a rest.if i read i would need to sleep after which i can't do in the day haha.,
but i still read for an hr at night.
majikfaerie
I totally do computer time rather than TV time. and we watch DVDs.
it feels very easy to be tv free for us, because we've never had one. but I do agree that it needs to be consensual for all family members. it sounds hypocritical to me to hide it from the kids and bring it out at night. they're sure to find out anyway.
I remember waking up one night when i was about 6, and coming to the kitchen for a drink of water and discovering my parents had a secret cellar under the fridge, full of hydroponic marijuana
letting the antenna get "broken" is a good start though.
ThirdArmBabySlingProject
We are TV free, but do have a book-sized DVD player (the type meant for car passengers) that packs neatly (and, more importantly, invisibly) onto the shelf. One tip would be to have a small TV that isn't the key focus of a room, with all furniture faced towards it (who's stupid idea was that one???!). It makes a really big difference. Keep it covered or, better still, in a cupboard. Those who really want to watch something can make the effort to bring it out. Otherwise it's often out of sight, out of mind.
Ceres
I periodically get sick to death of the TV and just put it in the cupboard under the stairs. Eventually I will want to watch it again and pull it out. The best thing you can do is not have it in the living area of the house where you spend the most time so it's not the centre of attention. Another thing that has been useful for me is saying no TV in the mornings. If we get up and start doing other things he doesn't seem to think of the tv, but if he watches it in the morning it's really hard to drag him away from it. I am watching way too much TV at the moment, but it gets dark so early and the nights are really boring!
Anastasia
we have a pretty big TV, it's not huge but being a CRT it's large in size. So it has pride of place on an entertainment unit with everything facing it LOL.I think I will chat to Jake about making it less a focal point when we move (the space we have here is just a PITA to rearrange). I like the idea of having it in a cupboard but I wouldn't be able to physically move it LOL.
artymama
We were TV free for 5 years and then a friend gave us theres. It lived in the study and only dh would watch it. Somehow it creeped out in to our loungeroom and lived there for a few months being idolised! Thank goodness for freecycle! I listed it and it was gone in a couple of days. I LOVE TV and would live in front of it......so would my children(and I know my children so please don't argue that they wouldn't....we've tried and it was a nightmare)......so we all needed it gone. It's such a mind numbing, trance inducing, life escaping 'activity'. I'm glad it's gone. We still watch dvds on our laptop, but we choose what we watch and don't get our heads filled with mindless, never ending crap. (Though I do love escaping through a mindless, trashy, tacky, teen film some times.LOL) It's amazing you become so sensitized to crap when you don't watch tv and then when you do watch it again, over the weeks and months, you become completely desensitized again. Such a strange object.
Kezia
I would suggest that you think about why you are considering being TV free, and go from there. Do you think TV is bad fro everybody, or just for children? Or do you think it's good, but needs limiting, and therefore it's easier to go without than limit it? Or what? If you don't think TV is good for people, why do you want to watch it? Or if you do think it's good, why don't you want your kids to? Sorry, that's starting to sound like the Spanish Inquisition, but there's no point in you doing the same thing I do if you're coming from a completely different perspective.
FWIW, here's my experience. I didn't really enjoy the television much when we had it (we have been without for about 3.5 years). I found that after most programs, I would feel as though I had wasted an hour or whatever of my life, and fed my brain rubbish. A bit like the feeling you get afterwards if you ever binge on really crappy food. Also I would look through the weekly TV guide, and it was very rare that I'd see more than about one program I thought was worth watching. So it wasn't hard to give up. My partner was initially very much against getting rid of the television, so we agreed to pack it up and put it away for a period (I think it may have been three months initially) to see how much he'd miss it. He didn't miss it, and didn't even remember to get it out when the time was up. So out it went. We do watch things occasionally, eg a DVD from the local library, after the kids are in bed. We are also thinking we might get a television later on - or maybe just a bigger monitor - because there are lots of educational things the kids would probably like when they are older. The other other interesting thing about our experience is that although our children are aware that every other child has television, they have never expressed any interest in getting one here. They also don't bother to watch if it's on in somebody else's house. NB Our kids don't have use of the computer either, so they have no screen time at all. Obviously it would benefit them to be computer literate, so we will be introducing this as they get older.
Wrt your comment about not wanting to hide it from your children, you don't need to hide it. If you want to watch television but don't want them to, I don't think there is anything wrong with just telling them this. You can have the television there, let them know that you watch it sometimes when they're not around, and explain why you have decided that they aren't having it until they're whatever age, whatever you've decided. There's nothing wrong with having some things only for adults or older children. My partner drinks a beer or glass of wine in front of the kids (very occasionally) and they accept that it's a grown up drink they can't have yet, so there's no reason you couldn't do the same thing with TV.
Anastasia
I am drawn more and more to trying to be as TV free as possible. However I have a few issues. One is that I, myself, love watching TV. It exposes me to things I wouldn't have even known about, it provides an escapism on shitty days, etc. Books do too, yes, but I have to be interested in a subject to search it out, whereas with TV sometimes flicking around I will find something that turns out to be fascinating. Plus reading does take longer LOL. I LOVE reading but I find I don't do much at the moment.
The second issue is my partner. He would definitely not be cool with freecycling the TV. I have to take into account his needs as well. But I know if the TV is there, it will be watched.
I don't want to hide the TV from the kids, and only get it out when they are not around. I feel uneasy about that, it seems deceptive and doesn't fulfil my need for authenticity. However I rely on the TV too much.
The other fear is that without TV I will just swap TV for the internet (and that Kira will do similar, swap TV for computer time). I'm not as bothered by Kira being on the computer as it is much more interactive but it's still "screen time".
I'm not sure what I am asking. Personal anecdotes, your experience of going TV free, doing it with a partner who is not in agreement, how you manage, what you do if there are shows you really love LOL (like I adore So You Think You Can Dance hehe). Advice, empathy, whatever you would like to share!
4andlearning
well we aren't dvd free but we are TV free.
something is wrong with the antena<sp> and we haven't never fixed it so i didn't have to have the fight with dh about going tv free.this is our second house we have lived in that this has been the case.
but yes i do use the computer instead.
iam try at the moment to reduce the kids to a 1hr a day of watching the box.
i use my computer time so to zone out because i need a rest.if i read i would need to sleep after which i can't do in the day haha.,
but i still read for an hr at night.
majikfaerie
I totally do computer time rather than TV time. and we watch DVDs.
it feels very easy to be tv free for us, because we've never had one. but I do agree that it needs to be consensual for all family members. it sounds hypocritical to me to hide it from the kids and bring it out at night. they're sure to find out anyway.
I remember waking up one night when i was about 6, and coming to the kitchen for a drink of water and discovering my parents had a secret cellar under the fridge, full of hydroponic marijuana
letting the antenna get "broken" is a good start though.
ThirdArmBabySlingProject
We are TV free, but do have a book-sized DVD player (the type meant for car passengers) that packs neatly (and, more importantly, invisibly) onto the shelf. One tip would be to have a small TV that isn't the key focus of a room, with all furniture faced towards it (who's stupid idea was that one???!). It makes a really big difference. Keep it covered or, better still, in a cupboard. Those who really want to watch something can make the effort to bring it out. Otherwise it's often out of sight, out of mind.
Ceres
I periodically get sick to death of the TV and just put it in the cupboard under the stairs. Eventually I will want to watch it again and pull it out. The best thing you can do is not have it in the living area of the house where you spend the most time so it's not the centre of attention. Another thing that has been useful for me is saying no TV in the mornings. If we get up and start doing other things he doesn't seem to think of the tv, but if he watches it in the morning it's really hard to drag him away from it. I am watching way too much TV at the moment, but it gets dark so early and the nights are really boring!
Anastasia
we have a pretty big TV, it's not huge but being a CRT it's large in size. So it has pride of place on an entertainment unit with everything facing it LOL.I think I will chat to Jake about making it less a focal point when we move (the space we have here is just a PITA to rearrange). I like the idea of having it in a cupboard but I wouldn't be able to physically move it LOL.
artymama
We were TV free for 5 years and then a friend gave us theres. It lived in the study and only dh would watch it. Somehow it creeped out in to our loungeroom and lived there for a few months being idolised! Thank goodness for freecycle! I listed it and it was gone in a couple of days. I LOVE TV and would live in front of it......so would my children(and I know my children so please don't argue that they wouldn't....we've tried and it was a nightmare)......so we all needed it gone. It's such a mind numbing, trance inducing, life escaping 'activity'. I'm glad it's gone. We still watch dvds on our laptop, but we choose what we watch and don't get our heads filled with mindless, never ending crap. (Though I do love escaping through a mindless, trashy, tacky, teen film some times.LOL) It's amazing you become so sensitized to crap when you don't watch tv and then when you do watch it again, over the weeks and months, you become completely desensitized again. Such a strange object.
Kezia
I would suggest that you think about why you are considering being TV free, and go from there. Do you think TV is bad fro everybody, or just for children? Or do you think it's good, but needs limiting, and therefore it's easier to go without than limit it? Or what? If you don't think TV is good for people, why do you want to watch it? Or if you do think it's good, why don't you want your kids to? Sorry, that's starting to sound like the Spanish Inquisition, but there's no point in you doing the same thing I do if you're coming from a completely different perspective.
FWIW, here's my experience. I didn't really enjoy the television much when we had it (we have been without for about 3.5 years). I found that after most programs, I would feel as though I had wasted an hour or whatever of my life, and fed my brain rubbish. A bit like the feeling you get afterwards if you ever binge on really crappy food. Also I would look through the weekly TV guide, and it was very rare that I'd see more than about one program I thought was worth watching. So it wasn't hard to give up. My partner was initially very much against getting rid of the television, so we agreed to pack it up and put it away for a period (I think it may have been three months initially) to see how much he'd miss it. He didn't miss it, and didn't even remember to get it out when the time was up. So out it went. We do watch things occasionally, eg a DVD from the local library, after the kids are in bed. We are also thinking we might get a television later on - or maybe just a bigger monitor - because there are lots of educational things the kids would probably like when they are older. The other other interesting thing about our experience is that although our children are aware that every other child has television, they have never expressed any interest in getting one here. They also don't bother to watch if it's on in somebody else's house. NB Our kids don't have use of the computer either, so they have no screen time at all. Obviously it would benefit them to be computer literate, so we will be introducing this as they get older.
Wrt your comment about not wanting to hide it from your children, you don't need to hide it. If you want to watch television but don't want them to, I don't think there is anything wrong with just telling them this. You can have the television there, let them know that you watch it sometimes when they're not around, and explain why you have decided that they aren't having it until they're whatever age, whatever you've decided. There's nothing wrong with having some things only for adults or older children. My partner drinks a beer or glass of wine in front of the kids (very occasionally) and they accept that it's a grown up drink they can't have yet, so there's no reason you couldn't do the same thing with TV.