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

Hi guys,

Dh and I are in the process of finally moving out of my parents place. I have for the past year or so been saying to him that I don't want a television at our place when we move out and he's ok with that. I have my reasons and motivations for this and don't judge anybody who has a television at home. I am a bit old fashioned in many respects and I just don't want family time to be sitting around a tele watching a movie or show. I want my kids to find ways to entertain themselves that doesn't involve the internet, a computer or the tele. Call me bizarre and out of whack but that's just what I want to do.

I know there are some people who don't have a television at home or they never watch it so I'm wondering if anyone here has had experience with not having a tele and if they found they coped alright without one? I grew up watching television so although I am adamant about not having one I worry about how I'll cope.

Any thoughts/input is appreciated :).

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 :)

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! ;)

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 :)

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.

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

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.

Rivlas and N2L - the problem with placing restrictions or limitations is I suck at them! I had Facebook years ago and deleted it simply because I just couldn't follow any self imposed restrictions. Even now I struggle with not checking the forums I'm on a million times a day :(.
I'm an all or nothing type of person unfortunately and am veryyyy very very (emphasis on very) slowly starting to get the hang of moderation.

Cricket thanks, the reasons you mentioned are some of the driving factors for deciding not to have a tele. I can get news off the net (not that I'm into news much anyway) and of course I'll have a computer for the kids to do their homework on. I really am not interested in anything on tv myself and neither is dh, the only reason I switch it on is because I can. It's there with nothing to do, I have nothing to do, and voila - a day wasted.

I'd get rid of the TV cords and get a hard drive. :) we only watch movies and the kids shows all come in series so we can control, pick and choose episodes.. No watching something just because it is 'on'. We're all about the control. I have foxtel as well, but I got it for my 12 month maternity leave. Which I am regretting, as it never gets used. :(

I grew up without a TV and had no problems with it.

My husband and I had a TV for the first couple of years of our marriage, but when it broke, we never replaced it. I don't miss it, but admit to watching some TV shows over the internet and YouTube etc, so it's not exactly screen-free around here.

My toddler has discovered the joys of music on YouTube and watches a bit more than I'm comfortable with, but I try and restrict it as best I can.

Definitely do what's right for you and your family. There's always plenty to do without a TV on!

We have a tv at home, but it lives in a closeable (lockable) cabinet. Every now and again we have a self-imposed tv holiday, but TBH these days there are so many other devices in the house I think you'd really have to unplug from all of them to get the complete de-screening effect :lol:.

We tend to tape the programs we're interested in, that way we can watch something interesting when we want to rather than the constant stream of low-qual garbage that beams in night and day. I think TV can be a really valuable medium, and it has value as a social tool too, but you need to control it.

Here's a tip (and it's something we've done in the past): have a tv-holiday. Ask a friend/family member to look after your tv for a predetermined time (eg a week, a month, 3 months) and see what happens. It will probably help to have a strategy - eg think about what you'd like to do with your time. Think about what you/DH will follow the things you still want to follow (eg sports matches, for eg), or plan some outings etc beforehand. And monitor what happens with your usage of other devices (laptop, phone, internet). Not much point canning the tv if it means people will just replace it with staring at individual screens, kwim?

Oh I like the tv holiday idea. I would do it except we're still with my parents, and the tv disappearing wouldn't go down well with them lol. Maybe we can not have a tv for the first few months of living on our own once we move out and I'll see how it goes.

I don't like the kids watching TV but find that it's a necessary evil sometimes. DD1 in particular was really hard to occupy when she was younger. Some days I would find myself setting up activity after activity only for her to spend 5 mins max at each one when I really needed a good 15 mins here and there to cook, clean, wash. So the TV went on so I could get stuff done.

DD2 is much better at entertaining herself if I'm doing housework and some days she doesn't watch TV at all.

Personally, I'd be more confident about going TV-free when my girls are a bit older. ATM, I kind of need that security blanket.