Saturday, August 12, 2006

tv, video games, limitations, rules...

I asked a fellow blogger where to begin since I'm new at this and she said start where you are now. So today on a yahoo group I belong to there were discussions of limiting tv and video games. I always have a hard time with these posts because these things have never been limited in our house and are not an issue. Sure my kids watch tv and play video games whenever they want, they also do lots of other things that interest them. I firmly believe that if these things were limited or used as a reward or punishment then there would be some sort of power given to them. As it is they hold no power and they are just another tool or resource, they are also a form of entertainment and learning.

What really got me was how the parent talked about how the kids have to explicity behave and clean up before they can play or watch. If they act up they can't play and get grounded from it, HUH!!!!!

I always wonder how these kids feel when their parents put such limits on them. I wonder if the husband told the wife that since she didn't do the dishes when he wanted that she had to go to bed early I don't know, it's all stupid to me. Where is the respect in these homes, where is the joy of learning, where is the compatibility, where is the real living?

More to come on this subject but right now my kids are calling...

2 comments:

Diane Thornton said...

limiting TV and video games is something some individuals need until they have the internal control. Some personality types are drawn to novelty and will seek easy novelty (TV etc) rather than create novelty in their environment. It's something we deal with when we see one of our children choosing any particular activity to the exlusion of everything else for an extended period of time. It's part of parenting, setting limits and knowing your kids. Some kids don't need that limit.

Ren Allen said...

"Some kids don't need that limit."

Kids that aren't limited, don't need limiting!! It's all about HOW the parent views the activity. If television is just another form of communication, then what is the problem?
Would a person limit books if their child was very interested? Would you limit other fascinations or interests? How long does an interest last before a parent decides it's "too much"? I believe only the individual should decide that.
Yeah, we're here to offer other options, yeah we're here to make sure our homes have many options, but offering is different than forcing. I believe the crux of unschooling is trust and relationships.