I don't want a TV at home-anyone else?

[Rivlas]

I grew up with out a TV and to this day I don't watch alot. I like watching the news etc to keep up with what is happening in the world.
When the girls were younger we used to watch movies together which was great family time.
You can have one in the house, just restrict the watching time. Nice day then outside you go.
I found it handy especially when I had a very sick child.
For school, you will need access to a computer and sometimes TV for homework, but again it's your choice as to how much they interact with these items.

I myself have no problem with a TV but when we have the grandchildren here it is restricted as there is so much rubbish shown. Even for ourselves, there are times when it is off as there is nothing worth watching. That's where a good book is handy

[Cass72]

I'm sorry, I can't live without my home shows so I can't give up the TV.....besides, who will babysit my toddler when I'm trying to get the house cleaned or cooking dinner? LOL

But, I have banned any TV in the bedroom....when DH (or I) would rather watch telly in bed than get up to mischief then I guess it's all over in the romance stakes!

[nothing2lose]

The problem isn't the medium, it's the message.

I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with TV. In fact, I think the opposite. It has amazing potential to educate, inform, illuminate and, yes, entertain. The thing to remember is you have control over it, it doesn't have control over you. You choose what to watch ( filtering out the crap) and put limits on how long you'll watch it and there shouldn't be a problem.

Of course though, it's up to you

[Cricket]

We've been without one for about 7 years now. We do have a TV in the basement, but it doesn't get any channels. We use it for DVDs. I sure don't miss the mindless sitcoms and the irritating super-sexualized commercials. Of course, we never had cable, so we didn't get the really interesting channels, but you can find a lot of the educational and informative stuff online anyways. I keep up with the news online as well.
DH and I spent the evening, after the kids were in bed, on the front porch swing, drinking coffee and visiting. In every house we could see on our street, the blue light was flickering. Everyone else was watching TV. They missed a lovely evening!
I don't think you'll ever regret pitching the TV. I wouldn't say that there's nothing good on ever, but I haven't found that our lives are lacking at all for not having one.

[Duchess]

I had no tv by choice for about 3 years
We got one when my first child was maybe six to eight years old.
It is great to play kids DVDs and for them to watch ABC2
Before that we would watch DVDs on the laptop.
However the tsunami and hurricane katrina and we had to hear about from friends days after, we found people are so overwhealmed by footage on tv of these events they don't talk about them

[Phteven]

I grew up without a TV and since our children came along we have lived without TV for various reasons at different times.
TBH I haven't noticed that my children are better behaved or more active when we don't have the TV.
Our current set up is that the boys can watch TV before I get up in the morning and they can choose 1 hour each over the weekend. Some mornings they go to the mosque and/or the park with DH so they don't watch every morning.
We also watch DVD as a family most Saturday nights and they watch footy etc with DH.

They have actually learnt lots from TV because they like Horrible Histories and nature docos.
I find it useful because I can use it as a reward/bribe and withdraw TV privileges as a consequence for unacceptable behaviour. It's also useful for sick children who just need to lie about to recover and when they are a bit freaked out and need to unwind for a little while before they can focus on an activity or outside play. On those days when they can't seem to stop aggravating each other and doing my head in it can be a great circuit breaker.

Soo.... in short, I agree with N2L (as always lol) that it's not the medium that is the issue.
I don't use it for news because TBH it's not news it's just another entertainment program. The boys aren't allowed to watch MTV or Rage etc because I can't stand the messages about women that the music industry generates.
I'm all about censorship lol.