I rarely write a title before I complete a post, but I did today. My titles are written, rewritten and then, often ditched for a completely different title before I hit the publish button. This one even violates a rule of writing from the Sentence to Paragraph course I’ve taught a few times now, which is not to use the words “good” or “bad” in a sentence (They aren’t “quality” adjectives.). The course teaches basic disciplines of writing, so once students learn them they can choose when it’s a good time to toss aside the rules for effect; this is one of those times.
Now that I’ve defended my title, I have a confession to make. First, you should know that cable is unavailable where we live, and all the pine trees render satellite reception problematic, so we have limited opportunities for watching television shows. Next, Meredith suggested a free month of Netflix. If I were any less mature, I’d blame Meredith for my demise, but through the years I’ve (sort of) learned to take responsibility for my weaknesses. Finally, let’s just say when my unlimited data cell plan met up with our new Netflix streaming opportunity, I became an overnight junkie.
People.
Parenthood. Y’know, the show with six seasons you can watch in just three weeks, one after the other? I was a goner. And then came Nashville, The Good Wife, Grey’s Anatomy, Elementary, Tiny House Nation…there were others, heaven help me. What I’m trying to say is for a short while my kids were eating cereal for breakfast and dinner because after “school hours” I was tapping out to tune in, and so were they. They thought it was a win/win. Like mother, like children.
Obviously, I’m not going to win any mother-of-the-year award anytime soon.
Here’s the thing about watching all those shows–I couldn’t write. I mean, I could write, but not well. I could not focus on writing for thinking about the lives of the people in the show; and not their real lives, either–their bogus television lives. Not only could I not write, but my kids’ attitudes were horrific. Maybe the title of this post should be “Good Attitudes are Directly Impacted by Bad Television” because that is true too.
So many truths here today.
I’m going to make a broad, sweeping statement without spending hours on the internet finding sources to back me up; so, you can take it or leave it. You can also do the research yourself if you’re unconvinced because that activity engages brainpower. Here we go. TV, like money, is not evil in and of itself. But, when we surrender hours of our best writing and thinking potential to the inactive state of watching television, television becomes bad for us–and our kids.
I would tell myself, “I’ll write after I watch this episode.” Three episodes later, I’m brain-dead and crying (I love TV dramas). I know, I know, you think that if I stopped at the proposed one episode, I’d be fine. Maybe. I’m honest though; I rarely watched one episode–and from what I can tell of my kids and others, I’m not an anomaly. Honestly evaluating the amount of time spent on television (streaming or otherwise) is, from my experience, not a frequent occurrence in any family. I, for one, did not have a grasp of how much time we watched until I started counting downloaded/viewed shows.
HOLY MOLY.
So why am I writing about this on a homeschooling blog? Because assessing our bad habits needs to happen before we begin working with our kids on theirs. It also keeps them from calling us out as hypocrites when we lock down their television time while simultaneously hanging out an extra hour in bed with headphones hoping everyone thinks we’re just sleeping. Also? The restroom–our kids know it doesn’t take that long to get our business done.
This morning I set up a system of accountability with Jeff and the kids. Other than “LOST”, which was Meredith’s primary argument for trying Netflix, I am not watching any shows for the next four weeks. If I have time to watch a show other than my evening gig with Meredith and Kenny, I have time to write. I need to write because it’s important to me personally, and it’s also how I get paid. I want to see what I can accomplish in my writing during the time I previously surrendered to streaming a show. I also want/need to get better meals on the table for my family again.
I have a sneaky suspicion my kids will reduce their screen time too because that’s what has happened in the past; though this is Spring Break, so I’m not pushing it…yet. All I know is I need to glean more than I stream.
Talk to me. Are you honest with yourself about your TV time? About your kids’ TV time? What are your thoughts about how it impacts learning and focus?
Heather Sanders is a homeschooling parent who desires families to live, love and learn together. Married to Jeff, Heather lives in the East Texas Piney Woods and homeschools her three children, Emelie, Meredith and Kenny.