This is my tenth column on cheap entertainment. Is anybody excited? Does anybody realize what I have missed? Anyone else realize that television is the cheapest of all cheap entertainment?
Okay, stay with me. I know that many of you consider t.v. the root of a lot of evil. And I can't disagree. There is a lot of, dare I say it, crap, put out there. But if you want to talk cheap, and I do, it doesn't get much cheaper than a television set. Dollar for dollar, you will get your money back on t.v. for entertainment value. Plus, temper tantrums are done in the privacy of your own home, you don't have to contend with the weather, you don't have to pack a small suitcase to leave the house (if you have children), and there are restroom facitlities (however they are only as clean as you personally make them-which sucks if you don't have a maid).
However, you mention television and you immediately get "a look". The liberals brand you as a senseless zombie intent on de-sentizing your children to natural experiences. Conservatives hail you as a realist intent on giving your children a few hours of pleasure. Anti-Violence Activist insist you are raising the next Charles Manson and Hippies let you know your child will never be able to come up with an original thought for the rest of their natural life.
How did an INANIMATE OBJECT get so much power?!?! Because that is all it is and it all comes down to the question of do you control your t.v. or does it control you? I have seen it both ways and it is a personal question.
In my house, as I have said before, the television set does NOT have to much sex, violence, or degrading content. Why? Hello-I censor that sucker. The t.v. fulfills a few basic roles for us however and they are as follows:
1.)The Negotiator/The Punisher...Didn't pick up your toys? Hit your little brother? Good boys get to watch t.v. and bad boys don't. Did you just yell at mommy? Hey, my turn to watch "Antiques Roadshow". Yippeee!
2.)The Boob Toob...It is absolutley true that the t.v. makes you zone out and for this reason we use it to inspire naps. Nothing makes Asa unwind, relax, and fall asleep like a cartoon in the middle of the afternoon. For this reason alone, I love my television set.
3.)The Educator...Nothing, I repeat nothing, replaces human contact. At this point in both my sons lives, that would be mom and dad. However, there are some good things on t.v. and I have watched them by myself, and with my sons. The kids are a little young to watch the shows on The Plague, but I got excited. And we have language programs that we have watched, helping us learn to count in foreign languages.
4.)The New Stereo...Our cable program includes music, so I frequently turn on classical music. I don't have cd's of Mozart, Haydn, Bach, etc., lying around so this has been a nice way to expose both my kids to different music. We have also listened to Swing, Golden Oldies, and a little Rock-n-Roll.
The reality is, in my opinion, that televsion is what you make of it. It can be the focal point of a uninspired child's life, or it can be one more tool in a parent's arsenal. It is however, always, cheap, cheap, cheap.
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2 comments:
You make a lot of good points and I actually laughed out loud at some of the things you wrote when I read this. I give it a "two thumbs up," thanks for the laugh.
With the cost of an HDTV or cable/satellite subscription it seems that TV is pretty expensive unless you are already paying for it. A cheap VHS or DVD player and an old TV to play library tapes and DVD's sure beats the new $1000 HDTV or $50-100 a month for cable. Plus you watch only what you pick out and can't let the kids channel surf for hours on end.
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