[Hope12]

I personally believe that taking the television set out of the home is really not always the solution. Please allow me to explain.

There is nothing wrong with children being raised with television in the home. Parents that raise their children without the television tend to forget a few very important things:

1- The television belongs to you, you are the parents.

2- Television watching should always be supervised by the parents.

3- Television is not a baby sitter. There was a comment in the religion I attend about
this: "Many parents have found that the easiest and cheapest way to keep the
children quiet is to set them down in front of what has also been called "the one-
eyed hypnotist."

4- Your children's rearing is parents responsibility.

5- Watching television is like anything else that "you" the parents allow your
Children to do. You have the responsibility to oversee what they watch and when
they watch television.

6- When selecting shows do you sit with your children and watch the shows with them?

7- Parents need to interact with their children. Talk about what they see on
television. After all, who is responsible for teaching them, You or the things
they see and hear around them?

8- Parents instead of slacking off and blaming everything around you for your lack of
guidance, take control of the television in your home. Encourage your children to
have balance. Teach them that reading, playing and studying are all important. We
as parents need to put the parenting responsibility where it belongs, in the hands
of every parent.

You know as parents we can blame the television, the media, the Internet, the graphic pornography on television and the Internet, we can even blame the news paper we read in the morning, or video games that children play. But in all honesty when we face up to the facts, these things are not at responsible for molding our children's minds and personality. We as parents are responsible! If our children have access to these things, that just shows we as parent need to make some readjustments in how we are raising our children. God Almighty gave to parents the most precious gift of our children, if we value that gift then we will have balance in all things when it pertains to our children. We can not put our children in a protective bubble, they will eventually be exposed to these things. If we start at a very young age to teach them what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable they will grow to be fine, well balanced, caring and responsible adults. It is all up to you parents, if you take your God given responsibility serious then you will reap many rewards. No parent needs to remove the television from the home, just take control of it and oversee what your children watch.

What is your 0pinion on this matter?
Take care,
Hope12

[tawnynkids]

I couldn't have said it better myself. I agree with you completely.

[NowWhat]

I catch myself letting my daughter watch way too much TV. You see, I am a TV junkie. I think I may be raising one too! I try to control what she watches and during the school year she gets to watch 2 shows at night. That's about it. Summer is a totally different story.

Would I take the TV out of my house? No. Should I take the TV out? Yes. Will I? No.

I will say this - I have had to answer a lot of questions - way to early - because of the TV. I have parental control on the TV - so she can't watch anything that is rated for people over the age of 7. But still I have been asked what Genital Herpes is because of a commercial. Or what does gay mean. THings like that.

[Treeny]

I personally believe that taking the television set out of the home is really not always the solution. Please allow me to explain.

There is nothing wrong with children being raised with television in the home. Parents that raise their children without the television tend to forget a few very important things:

1- The television belongs to you, you are the parents.

2- Television watching should always be supervised by the parents.

3- Television is not a baby sitter. There was a comment in the religion I attend about
this: "Many parents have found that the easiest and cheapest way to keep the
children quiet is to set them down in front of what has also been called "the one-
eyed hypnotist."

4- Your children's rearing is parents responsibility.

5- Watching television is like anything else that "you" the parents allow your
Children to do. You have the responsibility to oversee what they watch and when
they watch television.

6- When selecting shows do you sit with your children and watch the shows with them?

7- Parents need to interact with their children. Talk about what they see on
television. After all, who is responsible for teaching them, You or the things
they see and hear around them?

8- Parents instead of slacking off and blaming everything around you for your lack of
guidance, take control of the television in your home. Encourage your children to
have balance. Teach them that reading, playing and studying are all important. We
as parents need to put the parenting responsibility where it belongs, in the hands
of every parent.

You know as parents we can blame the television, the media, the Internet, the graphic pornography on television and the Internet, we can even blame the news paper we read in the morning, or video games that children play. But in all honesty when we face up to the facts, these things are not at responsible for molding our children's minds and personality. We as parents are responsible! If our children have access to these things, that just shows we as parent need to make some readjustments in how we are raising our children. God Almighty gave to parents the most precious gift of our children, if we value that gift then we will have balance in all things when it pertains to our children. We can not put our children in a protective bubble, they will eventually be exposed to these things. If we start at a very young age to teach them what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable they will grow to be fine, well balanced, caring and responsible adults. It is all up to you parents, if you take your God given responsibility serious then you will reap many rewards. No parent needs to remove the television from the home, just take control of it and oversee what your children watch.

What is your 0pinion on this matter?
Take care,
Hope12

I have often pondered this question myself as TV has gotten so bad over the years.
I can remember my mom not letting us watch 3 stooges because it was to violent. And now look what's on.
One time my niece who is 8 was at my house and she had on what looked like a cartoon
After walking back in the living room after going to the bathroom I saw it and was in dissbelief it was an adult cartoon. To me that is so sick now you even have to be careful about cartoons! My Kids are older now and TV even then was getting out of control and keeps getting worse! If I had small children now or had to do it all over again
I think I would only have 1 TV and in my room with a lock on it and they could only watch it for special programs that I thought were good for them not mind poisoning.
My kids watched a lot of veggie tales when they were little.

[Treeny]

I forgot to say veggie tales is christian based lessons for kids,
They are on tapes or now you might find them on dvds.

[shygrneyzs]

I was once a member of a church that taught no TV - United Pentecotal. However, one could own a TV and a vcr and use that for watching family and children type videos or, in the case of a couple of families who home schooled their children, for educational purposes. I think if a family never owns a television set and never views any television anywhere, then they are not missing much. But how realistic is that? Not very. You have televisions in hotels, classrooms, relatives, friends, etc. Somewhere down the line the child will be exposed to television.

It is far better to teach the child what is and what is not appropriate for viewing. When the child becomes an adult and leaves the home, it is all the parent can do to trust that their child will remain well grounded. Okay, so that does not happen all the time either - but then the decision is the adult child and not the parent. Also, that foundation the parents have laid is still there and can still be a presence.

It is similar to saying you are never ever going to introduce sweets to your child. Which is wonderful! But how can you maintain that safeguard all through out their life? Teaching moderation and offering alternatives.

When my children were younger we would go through the television guide and pick out what we were going to watch and that was that. They were allowed one hour of after school, provided the home work and chores were done. We did not have cable and so that narrowed choices down quite a bit. Usually we were busy after dinner with scouts or swimming or the youth group at our church. Workjng with the dogs, etc.

So to pull the televsions completely out of the home does not address the real issue of teaching what is acceptable and non acceptable viewing and why. Does not aid in development of the viewing conscience and morals.

[HaRLoS]

I Think that Children Nowadays are growing up too fast? Could it be because of t.v? I'm only 17.. and I actually wrote an essay about the effects of television on Children.

Throughout my reaserch I learned that

-if children see real people doing things that "look cool" than they are most likley to try it..
-t.v is okay as long as its treated as a reward like after they do their homework and their chores
-t.v teaches children a lot, the shows on treehouse t.v are very educational for children ages 3-10 they also only have commercials about their station! So no gay or herpes conversations there!
-Don't watch anything that would cause a lot of questions and thoughts to ponder in your children's heads(around them anyways) it's not good for them to see it when their little, their kids, and they need to enjoy that or they will regret it.
-you need to monitor what your children watch on t.v and then decide if its appropriate enough for them to be watching.
-The affects of violence on t.v in my research has told me that if a child watches cartoon or even REAL violence on television that they have a 35% more chance of growing up to be a criminal(low percent but you get the point)

I babysit kids who watch a lot of television, they are allowed to do it whenver, they are all very uncontrollable, and you have to fight a lot with them

So.. to answer your question, the t.v should not be taken away, your child just needs to watch educational television shows FOR CHILDREN! Don't let them watch anything! T.V can not raise anyone's children! It's a bad idea! Sure.. I'm sure parenting is hard, but you want your kids to grow up right? You want them to thank you when their older? Telling you that you have raised them right? Have them make good choices?

T.V may not seem like a big of a deal, but it really is, and all parents should now that and take a lot of work in parenting their child!

One day! Your going to need them to take care of you right? You do a good job and you will get the favour returned garrunteed.

[Hope12]

I Think that Children Nowadays are growing up too fast?? could it be because of t.v? I'm only 17.. and i actually wrote an essay about the effects of television on Children.

Throughtout my reaserch i learned that

-if childen see real people doing things that "look cool" than they are most likley to try it..
-t.v is okay as long as its treated as a reward like after they do their homework and their chores
-t.v teaches children alot, the shows on treehouse t.v are very educational for children ages 3-10 they also only have commercials about their station! so no gay or herpes conversations there!
-Don't watch anything that would cause alot of questions and thoughts to ponder in your childrens heads(around them anyways) it's not good for them to see it when their little, their kids, and they need to enjoy that or they will regret it.
-you need to monitor what your children watch on t.v and then decide if its appropraite enough for them to be watching.
-The affects of violence on t.v in my reasearch has told me that if a child watches cartoon or even REAL violence on television that they have a 35% more chance of growing up to be a criminal(low percent but you get the point)

I babysit kids who watch alot of television, they are allowed to do it whenver, they are all very uncontrollable, and you have to fight alot with them

So.. to answer your question, the t.v should not be taken away, your child just needs to watch educational television shows FOR CHILDREN! don't let them watch anything! T.V can not raise anyones children! its a bad idea! sure.. im sure parenting is hard, but you want your kids to grow up right? you want them to thank you when their older? telling you that you have raised them right? have them make good choices?

T.V may not seem like a big of a deal, but it really is, and all parents should now that and take alot of work in parenting their child!

One day! your going to need them to take care of you right? you do a good job and you will get the favour returned garrunteed.

Hello HaRLoS,

You are very wise beyond your years. The children you babysit are very fortunate to have you watching them. I agree Television is a big deal. If we as parents do not monitor the television and what is on it when our children are watching it, then the television is bad. On the other hand, television has many great shows that are educational and good.

I am glad to see such a fine young teen take the time to answer this post. You are the future generation that will care for such issues as children and television watching. I hope that all those who will write laws and guide the future generation are as wise as you are. If they are then this world will be a better place for our children to live in. Great comments. Bravo!
Take care,
Hope12

[HaRLoS]

Thanks:) You're a Sweety:) I've worked hard! I hope it all pays off

[labman]

Just turning it off will do.