I unplugged my tv and put it away

I think you guys are on the same page. And I agree.

For me,
The real issue is not the airwaves. It's those who control the content of the airwaves.

If you watch television daily as a young child, it will create just the feeble mind you talk of.

 

yes this is what I speak of.

 

Yup. I think we can all agree on that!

 

The only thing I would suggest, or even agree with is supervised television usage for a young child. Anything after that your on your own, and able to make your own decisions. And Applespark, what exactly sparked this change? You obviously had a televison before, but what made you unplug it?

 

The media (including TV) is an excellent method of indoctrining propaganda into the minds of the audience. Haven't any of you seen those ridicoulous state gov't ads about safety belts on TV (if you watch)? In LA, the ads started w/ pictures of state troopers, flashing guns and displaying their drug dogs, and then came the punchline: If you don't buckle up, you'll pay. Or something along that line. My point is that anyone can use TV and radio to push their own agenda. When (state) gov'ts try this tactic, they aren't great at it, but what about the corporations who can spend millions of dollars on sociologists and pyschologists? Their agendas can be pushed w/o everyone picking up on it. Believe it or not, people really do define their lives as "normal" by referring to their TV. They see the ad for that new, bigger, and better product, and if they can't afford it, then something must be "wrong" w/ them and they need to work harder to provide the "best" for their family. I hate ads b/c they prey upon the ignorance and sometimes stupity of the audience (yes, I too fall victim to the advertising devil). That's one of the many reasons why TV in its current form is better left turned off and unplugged.

"Most people would rather die than to think; in fact, they do so" Bertrand Russell

 

Is it really that difficult for you to comprehend that some of us are capable of ignoring advertising and being selective in what we watch? This argument is no different to the government's approach of "all drugs are bad" or "all laws are good". As soon as you start to make massive generalisations, your argument becomes worthless. What happened to us all being individuals?

 

I'm not ~not going to let my kid play sertain things with his friends. Those kinds of things are good for kids to act out in the process of learning. Why will it "fuck up his life" to not watch tv in the house for a few years. You have no real reasons why.

 

Blackie I get the impression you think that not owning a tv is some radical form of censorship that as you put it "will cause him grief and ostracism" as if he will somehow not be an acceptable human because he won't watch television at home for the first couple years of his life.

I also get the impression you associate no tv with total control over kids and how they live. And with freaked out parents that don't let their children "play".

When in reality I believe its EXTREMELY important to rough house, and expirament with power and control via games.

the pre schooler that brings his toy gun to school should not be treated with a NO TOLERANCE rule. Kids use toys to explore power. Whether it be a toy gun, a toy sword or what have you, just because they play with it doesn't mean they intend to grow up and murder people with it. They are learning social skills.

Cape's are also important in this category, every kid should have the option to have a cape. Cape's open a doorway of imagination wherein the child can become someone else, someone powerful. Again, the concept of "playing with power", a healthy thing.

This isn't about control over his life. The television does not serve his developmental needs. He's 2 1/2. It doesn't serve our family life either at this point, so we're droppin it.

Blackie I'm not trying to convert you. To each his own.

What do you define as the Adult World?

- You preparing him to drop bombs on countries, killing innocent civilians?
- Is the Adult World the one where he can use depleted uranium weapons to kill terrorist's, giving himself nuclear radiation at the same time?
- Is the adult world you speak of the one of whoring and television watching?
- Is the adult world the one where you hate your job, are in debt, have a shitty marriage and want to kill yourself?
- Is the adult world the medicated one so you don't end up killing yourself and you can continue to work unhappily?
- Is the adult world the one where you should volunteer time to the community and help your fellow humans?
- Is the adult world the one where you should mentor those less fortunate than you?

My only point is that there is an "Adult World" for every adult out there. Each person is different and percieves the world differently.

We each want both our children to grow up prepaired for whatever life brings them. The irony in this is that is at the root of why we made this decision, and here we are arguing over the means to the end.

Such is life. Many rivers to one ocean.

You ever wonder why you were asked to read to your son for an hour a week instead of watch TV with him an hour a week?

Your either growing dendrites, or your not. It's our job to grow them.