Where does the TV your children watch sit on the ‘Redeeming Value vs Time Wasted’ curve?
Thu 9 Mar 2006Serious .NET guru Mitch Denny is also taking his role as a parent seriously. As his daughter approaches school age he is evaluating private/public/home schooling and asking for opinions on the education system.
One of the side-issues that is being explored in the comments is whether TV should be banned. A sample comment…
David Douglass: As somebody with 3 kids, all doing well in school, the best advice I can give is throw out your TV. I’m serious! TV is hypnotic; your brain shuts down.
My response:
Sorry. I cannot agree with a ban on TV. I suggest “Moderation in all things, especially TV”. For some children, you might get away with a total ban, but for others, the ban itself will make TV more attractive and be an unnecessary source of conflict/peer pressure.
… I suggest discussing intelligent TV like “Australian Story”, “4 Corners”, “Foreign Correspondent” with children is also beneficial. Also, even the youngest child will enjoy anything by David Attenborough.
You’ve just got to be careful with programs on commercial stations. When David says “your brain shuts down”, I’m sure he’s talking about the bottom end of the Redeeming Value vs Time Wasted curve. The slippery slope starts at “Who wants to be a millionaire?” (slightly educational questions), picks up pace at “Australian Idol” (entertainment only) and crashes into the basement at “Big Brother” (’nuff said).
Something I really enjoyed as our kids got older was the whole family howling with laughter at “Good News Week” or “The Glass House”. My wife and I enjoyed seeing our kids laugh even more than the jokes. I’d hate to miss that.
I thought as I wrote that, wouldn’t it be great to have a picture to refer to? Well here it is; chock-a-block with all my bias about what makes quality television.
Where does the TV your children watch sit on the curve?
March 9th, 2006 at 18:21
I wonder where aircrash investigation sits?
Honestly though she is more into educational television than anything else. Nick Jr (as opposed to Nick) is actually pretty good when it comes to educational value.
Although it can become a little bit repetitive for me
March 9th, 2006 at 23:39
Aircrash Investigation? Budding engineer there, eh? That’ll definitely be in the blue zone.
March 10th, 2006 at 3:41
The longest running prime-time show on Amerikkklan television was “Gunsmoke”…which was considered family fare. It was about a marshall (policeman from the old west) who had the hots for the town’s madam, who was basically running a whorehouse/saloon!!!
History shows us that Roman civilisation collapsed when it tried to legislate morality (i.i., made Christianity its state religion). TRUE decadence cannot be eradicated by pseudo-morality.
March 10th, 2006 at 8:39
Wasn’t expecting comments like this, but that’s the beauty of the internet; everyone can have their say.
Hmm… Now that you got me thinking. “…tried to legislate morality” or “observed a down-turn in morality”? Which of these came first?
But don’t get me wrong; I’m far from a religious fanatic. (Maybe I watched too much “Gunsmoke” as a kid?)
Personally, I don’t care what religion, if any, anyone espouses, as long as it involves treating ALL humans with respect. Many of this planet’s problems have arisen because some of us choose to use religion as a tool to attack or manipulate others.
March 10th, 2006 at 11:27
: I think more than watching TV, having kids click the Wikipedia Random article button 20 times before bed is a real winner
March 10th, 2006 at 19:11
Hey Mike, I thought my tv-usage might be of interest since I’m in that teenage-schooling category. I’m 16, turning 16 this year.
I quite agree that throwing out the television isn’t the best idea, moderation is. The best thing to do is simply have a house rule that states no turning on the television unless there is something you want to particularly watch, that isn’t junk like Big Brother, or a soapie. So many kids that channel flick which instantly tells you they’ve already been snared by the box.
As for shows, I only watch:
).
SBS World News
ABC News
Cutting Edge
Foreign Correspondent
7:30 Report
Inspector Rex (because we’re German
with every-so-often:
Simpsons
4 Corners
ABC Documentaries
Futurama (I can’t get my hands on the DVDs)
and lately, Supernatural
As for movies, I’m quite a fan of the foreign films on SBS. I very, very rarely watch a movie on any of the commercial channels (7/Prime, 9/Win, 10).
Though don’t take this as an average kid’s tv watching preferences. Very few of my school mates ever linger on SBS for more than a few seconds when channel flicking.
Cheers,
Pascal
October 4th, 2006 at 16:46
The ABC’s 7.30 Report is working on a story looking at the impact of computer games, TV , junk food and academic pressure on child development. British author, Sue Palmer warns we’ve moved into an era of ‘toxic childhood’ where real food, real play and first hand interaction with the world are disappearing.
We’re looking for families to interview who have strong feelings about this issue - you might agree with Sue Palmer and try to ensure that your children aren’t exposed to ‘junk culture’.
Or you may think it’s all a bit of a beat up and think your kids are resilient enough to survive what the 21st century throws at them.
If you’d like to take part, please email Lesley Robinson, Producer at the 7.30 Report on: robinson.lesley @ abc.net.au or phone 0408 970500
October 5th, 2006 at 16:25
Toxic Childhood?…
Do you have strong views on whether computer games, TV, junk food and academic pressure are impacting today’s children? The ABC’s 7:30 Report may want to hear from you.
Click to enlarge
Back in March, my post Where does the TV your ch…
October 7th, 2006 at 17:34
Fantastic graph (saved locally for future explanations).
I would add Dateline and Enough Rope to the blue section.
The sad thing about Big Brother is that it could easily be made more interesting by combining it with aspects of, say, the Stanford Prison Experiment.
As a general rule, I think that television is bad for you. The messages it transmits are created as to appeal to the basic instincts of people. In other words, the messages are simple, they are black and white, they are not stressful. It is thus soothing to human nature, which generally does not want to embrace the complex naunces that are part of any real life situation. It’s a biologically satisfying imitation of life.
Unfortunately, I suspect that human beings are subject to GIGO. If you watch too much television, GIGO particularly comes into play. Life becomes like the television - simple, black and white, lacking subtleties.
I have nothing to back this up and am foaming at the mouth.
More importantly, I am going to a Mark Seymour gig tonight. Woot
November 2nd, 2006 at 1:55
“The Glass House†Axed!…
Shattered Shards Scattered; Satirical Scripts Shredded!
Really angry tonight! At the end of tonight’s episode of The Glass House, Wil Anderson announced that the year’s final episode on November 29 would be the last Glass House ever. …