tv rant (I warned you)

I posted a ton of new pictures of my boys on Monday, so I'm skipping wordless Wednesday.  If you didn't get to see them, click here!

Something has been on my mind for a bit and I've decided it is time to blog about it.  Let me start off by saying I'm not writing this to offend anyone.  I'm not trying to upset the apple cart, but sometimes you just have to talk about your own side of the coin too.  Ok enough of the phrases and onto the rant.

**disclaimer, I won't be offended if you stop reading now**


Something that I have noticed since 2006, yes that is when Blake was born, is the big tv debate.  OMG she is not going to go there.  It feels like some people feel that tv is the root of all evil, or at least the cause of many childhood issues.  They often talk about how bad it is and how they limit their children from watching it and all that with free reign.  But, the parents on the other side of the coin never say anything.  Now, do I have some issues with children watching television, yes!  I think that we are raising a generation or two of children who are being allowed to view things that are not appropriate for their age and therefore are becoming desensitized to many issues of society.  I think that unsupervised viewing of any and all television by young children is wrong.

That being said, I think there is a LOT of good children's television out there.  There are channels dedicated to children's television.  There are channels that are commercial free just for the reason of protecting your child from commercialization.  There is so much children can learn through these shows in addition to what they learn through play.

My boys watch television, they play on the computer every day, they play outside, they play with each other.  Are they perfect... NO.  Are they always well behaved... NO.  Do I think that television or computers caused these any of their behavior issues... no way!  Children learn about limits and boundaries by experimenting with them, in other words... getting in trouble is part of growing up, it's not caused by media. 

After being a teacher for 10 years I could not tell you which children watched tv and which ones did not.  I can tell you which children were supervised and which were not.  I can tell you which children spend time with their parents doing things and which did not.  But to blanket say that tv is the cause of behavior issues, rubs me the wrong way. 

Agree with me if you want.  Disagree with me if you want.  But, know that I believe what I believe and although I'd love to hear what you have to say on both sides of the issue, it will probably not stop my boys from watching tv.  (I don't think I could stop Blake from watching Monster Trucks... he loves them)