When you move, it’s a great opportunity to make some changes that you’ve been thinking about for awhile, but never get around to making. In our family, we’ve had discussions about removing the television from our lives for a long time, but never had the guts to act on it. It’s well known that television has many negative effects on our kids, ranging from increased obesity to violent behavior, etc. It has plenty of negative effects on adults as well, but it’s such a great form of entertainment that we just seem to ignore these issues.
Setting up the cable was not top of the list for this move, so we’ve essentially been forced into living without TV. What can I say - it’s wonderful! My 9 year old son, Yoav, who will watch anything available (including the commercials even though we had TIVO), has now resorted to reading when he’s bored. He’s finished the entire book supply that we had brought from the states, thinking it would easily last at least until my October visit to Silicon Valley.
Ben (my 3 year old) hasn’t asked to see the same old Shark Tale again and again and again. Instead, he’s been playing with his tractors, trains, etc. It’s more work for me (sometimes, an hour break would be nice), but overall, good for them.
We will get the DVD set up, so we can rent movies, etc.. I don’t think that a strict “no TV” law is the right approach, as kids have their ways of breaking these laws. But this hybrid model will hopefully bridge between the need for entertainment and down-time, without the negative effects. We shall see…
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