Could You Give Up TV?

[Eamonn]

I have yet to read the article in Scouting magazine.

So far I have yet to see anything in the new fall line-up that I''d stay home not to miss.

But I don''t think I''d be happy with no TV!!

Could you give up TV?

Could your family?

What would you replace it with? (All that extra time!!)

Eamonn.

[scottteng]

Right here and my other forums and groups. I have not watched TV for years putting in my TV time on the computer. I feel I am better informed not just soaking up the predigested pablum on the box. I get to choose what I read, view and who I interact with and feel I am the better for it. I have a special antipathy to sports on TV watching overpaid egotists playing kids games. I still enjoy a minor league baseball game, middle school football game or college soccer game in person anywhere where it is still played mostly for the thrill of the game not the big bucks to be had.

[resqman]

The school has a TV Free week once each year. We tape a page to the front of the sets and no one gets to watch TV that week. Of course we get some grumbling the day before and day one. After that, no complaints.

 

We play cards, board games, read or do other things as a family. Sure, we could live without TV without much difficulty.

 

While I was single, I unplugged my only TV and put it in a closet for a little over a year. Spent a lot of time reading and listening to music. Never missed it.

[Lisabob]

As a kid I have very strong memories of my mom marching into the living room, turning off the tube, and throwing me out of the house for the afternoon. I didn''t at the time but now I thank her for that. Then I used to give up TV for 8-10 weeks every summer when I was in high school and college (working summer camps will do that to you!). My first couple of years in grad school, although I owned a tv, I had neither time to watch it, nor money to pay for cable. So it gathered a lot of dust. Overall, I seldom missed it, though I was always noticeably "out of touch" with mainstream media culture.

 

These days, I have a husband and a son who love watching movies and tv, while I could be happy without it in most cases (except when my beloved Buffalo Sabres are playing...but even then, there''s internet radio!).

 

But my internet service? No, I couldn''t live without that!

[PeteM]

TV? YES, without question.

 

Scouter.com?

 

NO!!!!!!!!!

[frankj]

We gave it up in 1992. The kids were 2 and 4 at the time. It was not part of any pre-conceived plan on how to raise the children, but I am convinced it was an important factor in their academic success and enjoyment of reading. If someone were to ask me today for advice on child rearing, I would tell them to turn off the TV. And to answer the original question, no, we do not miss it.

[insanescouter]

TV - yes, no doubt I only watch at most a 2-4 hours a week anyway...

 

Internet - No way - impossible. I spend almost all my waking hours online (of course I am a web programmer too - so my full time job requires me to work online and then my side projects are websites too)...

 

 

Scott Robertson

http://insanescouter.org

[packsaddle]

Back when my children were little, we went cold turkey for about three years. Then, as they felt the social pressures we let it back in a little at a time. It took about another year to let them watch on weekends and then it was back for limited times during the week.

Now, I like ''House'' (my role-model) and my wife stays glued to the ''Weather Channel'' (boooooorrrrriiiiinnnnggg).

And the kids, one spends at least 6 hours each day studying for his final year at college (no lie) and the other works with animals for 14-hour shifts after which she''s too tired for TV. I''m OK with this.

[Gunny2862]

Could I, YES - just leave my internet jack where it is please, thank you.

 

Could the boy, sure - just make sure that he has transport to football or wrestling practice or what ever Scouting activity he needs to get to.

 

Could the wife, yeah right, you''ve got all the chance of turning off her TV that you have of emptying my gun safe. Unless she finishes her business plan and can set her funding plan in stone - THEN she won''t need the tube for more than about 3 hours a week + weather channel time.

[Eamonn]

Please don''t take this the wrong way!!

I really do not intend any disrespect to anyone!!

 

Back when I was young.

Before I got married (At age 26!!)

I was very much a night owl.

I really did burn the candle from both ends.

I don''t think I was ever in bed before 3:00 AM and never missed work, normally starting sometime between seven and eight.

If there wasn''t a Scouting function on over the weekend, I was happy to stay in bed till noon.

Pete our Troop quartermaster used to give me a hard time. Telling me that I had wasted the best part of the weekend.

He was one of them people who got up at 6:30 AM each and everyday.

He seemed to think that there was something virtuous about not staying in bed. (I don''t know what he found to do at 6:30 AM on a Sunday ??)

While I loved him like a brother and knew his teasing was good natured, there were times when I felt he was being a sanctimonious old poop!!

Many people who don''t watch TV, seem to a little like Pete.

At times I feel they are looking down their nose at those who do and I can''t help feeling that they somehow see not watching TV as having some sort of virtue.

Of course too much of anything is too much and isn''t good for you.

Still I enjoy TV.

I don''t allow it to rule my life. But a night at home with HWMBO, the dogs, a plate of cheese and an adult beverage is a nice night.

I still miss West Wing!

I have been watching Ken Burns, The War, on PBS.

It''s kinda strange looking at WWII from an American point of view and I can''t help wondering how different it would be if someone like Richard Dimbleby had made it for the BBC?

While of course I was too young to have seen Dimbleby''s spoof documentary about spaghetti crops in Switzerland,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6240000/newsid_6248600/6248636.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=2

But it does prove that TV can be fun.

Eamonn.

[BrentAllen]

I could live without it, if I had to. We don''t watch much of anything regularly. The networks are awful to me - nothing of interest. Same with either local or cable news. Giving it up completely really wouldn''t free up that much time.

 

I like to occasionally watch college football and college basketball. I also love watching the Little League World Series. My only real vice with it is the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Club) and TUF. Other than that, I will flip over to AMC to see if there is a classic movie on I enjoy. I usually have at least 2 Scout meetings during the week, and many times 3, so that doesn''t leave much time for tv.

Eamonn, I''m also watching the Ken Burns WWII special - very good!

[CalicoPenn]

I gave TV up in 2001 - and haven''t missed it. When I stay in a hotel on a business trip, I find that I turn the thing on and flip through the channels, and flip, and flip, and flip then realize that I''ve just wasted 1/2 an hour of my life reaffirming that there is nothing worthwhile on TV and my choice to give it up was a good one - that''s when I either head out to a nice restaurant, or find some kind of live entertainment or order an in-room movie and pay the 10 bucks for it (going to a movie costs more than that these days anyway with high ticket prices and then the cost of popcorn and a drink).

 

I now watch dvd''s - I''ve now seen all of Akira Kurosawa''s movies, all of Hitchcock''s (those available on dvd and video), caught up on classics new and old, watched a bunch of schlock (there are times I crave a couple of weeks worth of 1950''s B-movie science fiction and horror)and am now working my way through as many Oscar winners as I can get my hands on. I also read whatever happens to catch my eye at the time - and usually 4 to 5 books at any given time.

 

I''ve learned to play the Hammered Dulcimer, the Appalachian Dulcimer, the Native American (style) Flute and am now trying to learn how to play the Scottish Bagpipes. I''ve learned glassblowing, have taken up sculpture and painting, and never miss my favorite show (since I don''t have one).

 

Of course, when people ask me if I''ve been watching the Ken Burn''s series, or what I think of some TV show, or ask me who I think is going to win American Idol or Dancing with the Stars and I tell them I don''t have TV, I either get the "what kind of whacko are you" stare or "I wish I could do that" statement.

 

That said, if they ever start to offer truly ala carte cable, where you don''t have to pay for basic cable (I don''t want to watch my local channels - thank you very much) or standard cable (I don''t want my MTV either) and let us pick and choose and pay for exactly the channels we want, then I might have it hooked up again - if I could figure out what channels I might like.

 

Calico

[CalicoPenn]

Duplicate Post - oops

 

Calico(This message has been edited by CalicoPenn)

[scoutldr]

I watch TV every night with one eye and the other eye on my laptop (like right now). If I could choose my channels, I would have one local news channel, History, Weather, Fox news, Discovery and maybe Travel. The rest is mostly advertising and garbage.

 

Almost forgot...PBS too (Lawrence Welk and Antiques Roadshow!)(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

[local1400]

Probably not, although my tv is only 13 inches. I spend about 40 to 50 hours a week wasting away in a hotel, so tv is somewhat of an outlet to utter boredom while there (until I buy a laptop). Pack, I can watch the Weather Channel for hours, despite it being the same every 15 minutes. But I do enjoy PBS, the History channel, and of course, Patriots and Red Sox. No sitcoms since Seinfeld folded.