Doing without television? | ADHD Information

I was watching "The View" this morning, and Elisabeth and Rosie had a playdate this weekend with their kids.  Elisabeth commented on Rosies kids as being so wonderful, and Rosie talked about they do not watch TV. 

My question is, do any of you not watch TV, and if you did and stopped, how did you do it?  I know my son has done better without the TV in his room, and I myself am a TV junkie.  How do you just cut it off? Just wondering if anyone else does this.  Thanks!

I don't watch TV (I'm on here instead lol). I moved into my home this summer and up until then, I didn't even have cable. Cable comes free with this home. I let my son watch about a half hour TV per day and that's only when he comes home from school. I think it's his way of winding down and he likes to watch Spongebob. It also gives me time to myself to unwind and make dinner at the same time. After Spongebob (or whatever cartoon in its place) he'll watch the next half hour half-a$$ed. He's in and out; comes and talks with me; goes and finds a toy .. whatever. Most of the time (when it's on) it's only background noise. I usually have to turn it off because no one is watching it. So ya, we're not big on TV. Being it's still a novelty for my son though, I still use it as a neg consequence .. if he backtalks, he loses the TV for the day. It's good because even though he doesnt watch much, he likes the little he sees and at the same time, I put on more limits to it so he doesn't get suckered into the whole TV-a-thon. lol Well this is Ms. Opnionhated's  opinion.

I love to share,  don't  I ?

I feel alot of kids miss out sometimes on their hidden talents because of too much television.
It truly does placate and hypnotise and brain wash.
Electronic valium ?
 It creates mass illusion but informs also.

I feel people would have not let so much negative things happen to us if it was not for TV Nation. Just a theory ?

TV can teach children something useful sometimes, but they could be instead developing skills or learning to entertain themselves (sometimes daydreaming is a good thing) or just listening to themselves.

It would be cool if kids could learn meditation, do more sports instead of TV, learn a musical instrument,spend more time in nature and outdoors, just play and interact more.

My daughter and I watch TV every other day or just watch our absolute favorites. Time is limited,same on computer.

Children should be reading more. (things they enjoy) They should dance more. Healthy for the soul. Rhythmic music and tribal beats are great for stress relief.

When it's time to wind down I play meditational music like water sounds and wind chimes,pan flutes for example.
If I want to incite energy I play lively tribal music or good rock & roll.
We live and breathe music here mostly.

We light candles in the evening and scented oils.
I like a nuturing atmosphere not a droning TV with bad news & crap.

I do like shows that make us laugh.
Friday night is movie night.1st movie for the whole family, 2nd movie for grown ups.

Saturday is entertaining or clubbing,parties etc.

Sunday is family day. We go for outings or long bike rides. It depends.


MTV is forbidden in our house !

worldisround38979.4621759259My daughter watches a little TV in the evening, but in the morning & after school we don't turn it on. She reads, writes stories, or plays with her friends instead. She does have a few favorite programs that she watches but I notice that even those sometimes bore her & she turns the TV off voluntarily.  Myself, I have the TV on alot when I'm home but its mostly for the background noise. I hardly ever actually WATCH a show, and alot of the time I'm not even in the room with it! LOL

You fill their lives with activities and homework instead. And you spend all of your time transporting them to and from these activities, or doing the homework with them LOL. During the week my son gets 15 min a day of TV while eating breakfast -- unless he's not eating, and then the TV goes off.

Basically, my child only watches TV a little in the evening before bed, we are too active and have no time for it. I might watch 1 movie every 2 months if I am lucky! I am a computerholic though...LOL My son used to watch alot of TV, and I do not notice a difference when he did, or now when he does not. I know when the TV is off, he tends to quietly play with his clay, lego's, draw, color, go outside, etc. So yes......they are more productive and engaged in learning with their hands when the TV is off. I learn every night on the puter......TV is wasted down time for my brain.T.V. in our home is a reward and punishment thing.  Just like video games.  In the mornings (if not grounded from tv) my ds gets to watch tv after he has done all his morning stuff (eaten, face, teeth, hair, made bed etc)  It is an incintive to get his rear moving.  And then it is only for five minutes but it works!!!REMOVEING IT ALL THE WAY DOESN'T WORK THEY WILL DO SOMETHING ELSE ANYHOW. TRYED IT ALL READY FOR 6 MONTHS. IF YOU HATE READING THAT WILL NOT HELP AT ALL. OUR KIDS LOVE THE OUTDOORS. WE HAVE EVEN DONE HW THIS WAY BEFORE OUTSIDE. CHORES IS WHAT IS HATED HERE THE MOST. Our kids don't care what the consequences are. Money is what our kids want to get what we won't buy. These are 13 and 10. Remember these 2 are only GK's also. Spoiled Bratz by GM's also. Beware Gp's can  ruin the kids. My dad will give them nothing. RNivanhoe38980.4177777778 We watch quite a bit more TV in the winter or crappy days.

It can be a nice escape or get your mind off worries.

They are pretty negative about watching TV in germany (Europe maybe) ?
You constantly get lectured and written material about how bad it is. Even on TV !
 Especially concerning kids and the tube.

TV is watched MUCH MORE in the States than here.

But then again TV is better in the States. That might explain that ?
worldisround38979.4670833333We have satalite and my husband turns the cartoon channel off until Kody earns it by doing homework. He gets points for things like:
keeping room clean
doing homework
homework without whinning
homework done on his own
homework done at day care
taking medicine
and we add the totals up every week.
he gets 1 hour of cartoons for having 50 points.
he gets a special outting for 75 points.
he gets special rewards for certain amount of points and it seems to help him forus. donabuzibee38980.3367361111I was very idealistic about this when I was pregnant... I rarely watch TV
and my child was not going to either. Turns out it wasn't an issue... he
couldn't sit still and focus on a show and didn't even understand the
concept of characters or a story. This was when he was four. Now he is
almost six and we watch a movie on Saturday night if he has earned it. He
does sit fairly still and I ask him lots of questions to make sure he is
following the story. His favorite is Star Wars, but he doesn't understand
(or care) why the characters are doing what they are doing. And when he
saw me crying near the end of E.T., he was extremely confused. Maybe I
am expecting too much. I know I never imagined that I would be using
movies to try and teach about emotions!

As for TV during the week, no way. Not enough time! His "down time" is
coloring or drawing.Our children dont watch tv. They play read or do something else. We also limit the game boy time they have too. This has worked out for us great! They will watch a movie a week or so, and maybe a bit here and there.My daughter earns money on school grades.
The better the grade ,the more money.
Under a grade C she does not get anything.
Chores done are rewarded with having friends over ,going to the movies etc.