Cutting cable TV - yes? no?

k so my two kids watch cartoons on TV whenever they can. We have tried limiting their hours but often that's hard to enforce. I don't watch any TV. My wife doesn't watch any TV either.

I cut cable this morning. My 8 yr old is in shock and mourning but I'm sure he'll get over it. I'll be able to get content from the net for my kids to watch. I'll put a media box next to the TV that can stream content from the internet. My internet connection is 25Mb-up/25Mb-down. My older kid also has a laptop on which he accesses khanacademy.org and a couple of other math/science/english websites. My girl's too small. On the tv, they both watch ONLY cartoons.

What's the downside of cutting cable? I don't see any. Somebody on CH said "Television is important in a child's development and by cutting cable I'm doing a big disservice to my children". I don't get that at all.

Views/Thoughts?

TIA

Bittu wrote:On the tv, they both watch ONLY cartoons.

This will change so soon.

Bittu wrote:k so my two kids watch cartoons on TV whenever they can. We have tried limiting their hours but often that's hard to enforce. I don't watch any TV. My wife doesn't watch any TV either.

I cut cable this morning. My 8 yr old is in shock and mourning but I'm sure he'll get over it. I'll be able to get content from the net for my kids to watch. I'll put a media box next to the TV that can stream content from the internet. My internet connection is 25Mb-up/25Mb-down. My older kid also has a laptop on which he accesses khanacademy.org and a couple of other math/science/english websites. My girl's too small. On the tv, they both watch ONLY cartoons.

What's the downside of cutting cable? I don't see any. Somebody on CH said "Television is important in a child's development and by cutting cable I'm doing a big disservice to my children". I don't get that at all.

Views/Thoughts?

TIA

ROFL.... it is amazing to see Bittu getting into Parenting headaches, and forgetting how a few years ago he phoophoed others parenting problems. What happened to your simplistic bravado that in your house YOU rould be the master and your wife and kids would do what you dictate.....(I bet you dont remember).

But, that is where the fun starts.... (now you have 3 enemies in your house....TMB, and now your kids...)

Wait...the fun has just started....Wait till your son turns 13 and oh...even more fun when your daughter turns 13..

(I should read all your posts from now on...)

Srsly: cut the cable and stick to it... and they will soon forget and find other ways to entertain themselves. But, expect your TMB to veto it - the fact that she does not watch notwithstanding.

Bittu wrote:k so my two kids watch cartoons on TV whenever they can. We have tried limiting their hours but often that's hard to enforce. I don't watch any TV. My wife doesn't watch any TV either.

I cut cable this morning. My 8 yr old is in shock and mourning but I'm sure he'll get over it. I'll be able to get content from the net for my kids to watch. I'll put a media box next to the TV that can stream content from the internet. My internet connection is 25Mb-up/25Mb-down. My older kid also has a laptop on which he accesses khanacademy.org and a couple of other math/science/english websites. My girl's too small. On the tv, they both watch ONLY cartoons.

What's the downside of cutting cable? I don't see any. Somebody on CH said "Television is important in a child's development and by cutting cable I'm doing a big disservice to my children". I don't get that at all.

Views/Thoughts?

TIA

I cut cable looooooooooong time ago. Nothing happened wrong with my kids. They are just fine. All these cartoons, if at all required, are available from local libraries on DVDs. I use the rabbit ears antenna. It gives about 15+ free channels in the city where I live. If you live in the suburbs you should get those unless your suburb is too far away. Even if you are too far away you should get at least 5 channels.

oh ya. forgot. national channels will come anyway. So my point about news and all doesnt' apply any more.

Good thing. The downside? TV acts as a good babysitter. What alternative activities have you introduced in the hrs that they are not watching tv? If they have neighborhood kids in their age group who can play with them, then fine. Otherwise, the burden falls on the parents to engage them all the time, which in the long run could seem tiring.

Your 8 yr old has his own laptop? My 16 yr old still doesn't. Your sonny accesses the khanacademy.org and other math/science/eng websites right now and that's great. That may not last long. The problem begins once he discovers that internet has other interesting stuff too (esp computer games). Once he does that, he won't even think abt tv. Internet will be his world. He's still too young now. I'd give him a couple of yrs to get there. His computer seems like a hazar and one times bigger problem than cable tv then.

We didn't have cable for about 6 months. Always burned or bought their favorite TV shows. We have like a super big disk that can be connected to the TV and watch those in HD quality.
I was actually having a nice time then without cable. But now ds is into WWE, Sports, History, Nature channels. We are back with cable...dd is still a Mickey Mouse watcher and is more into paintings.
I guess having a TV and watching quality shows together builds the bonding between kids. Most of the time we do talk during commercials about their other activities...

Bittu wrote:.............

What's the downside of cutting cable? I don't see any.
Views/Thoughts?

TIA

....> me neither.

Tracy thinks that TV plays an important part in a kid's development. Can somebody straighten out this crazy lady? I don't have the patience...

Bittu wrote:Tracy thinks that TV plays an important part in a kid's development. Can somebody straighten out this crazy lady? I don't have the patience...

For once I agree with Tracy phew ! there I said that !!

Television can do no harm ...it only teaches

and as Kinns said... kids go on from TV to computers and that is even worse

Bittu wrote:Tracy thinks that TV plays an important part in a kid's development. Can somebody straighten out this crazy lady? I don't have the patience...

grrr.... you are taking away the cable, but you are not taking away the shows. You said you will stream them on the internet. And I was comparing those two. i.e. finding something on their own, discovering what they like vs. watching what you stream for them, or what they hear from the school.

TV gives that opportunity, and internet may not. And I gave you two examples too. Like sonny loves discovery channel, and daughter loves the morning news show. She is also a big watcher of the food/house/medical shows, when she does stumble on something interesting. They discovered these shows on their own. Even though they would watch mostly Nick or Disney.

You said you can stream all discovery stuff on the internet. I said, it's not the same experience. i.e. on tv, you flip the channels, you see some documentary coming on Lions, and you decide to watch it. But if you tell your son, 'I have downloaded the Lion's documentary, you can watch it'. The second may not get him that interested.

Also, morning shows have their own charms. There is that whole package deal. Yes, you can watch all the news from elsewhere, but watching journalism like that is different. It can inspire so many kids to take up journalism.

Those were just two examples. Anyway, second example doesn't count, coz I think you can still get the main national channels even if you cut the cable. Dunno if that's the case for you.

You may think they watch TV all the time. Luckily for my kids, this isn't true. Even if the TV is on, they spend each day doing other creative stuff. Like making or drawing something, or reading, or even writing. They play too. But if they are on internet, they are just glued to the internet. (I know you mentioned that you will hook up the laptop to the TV, so hopefully this doesn't happen with them).

A small point, but I also take a little joy in watching and seeing what kind of shows they are picking to watch, without any prodding from us. (This is what I meant when I said that you should let them discover things for themselves, which is a necessary part in all kids' growth).

Dunno about your kids, but my kids lose interest if I start interfering in stuff that they should watch or do. So it's best that I watch silently, and not let them feel like I am [watching them]. Example, I bought a 6-DVD set of discovery channel for them. Never been watched. But Discovery is on on TV atleast 1-2 hour every week.

I didn't say TV itself is important for the kids' 'development'. I meant, it gives so many opportunities for them to stumble upon something that they might discover that they like, and may even make a career out of it. This in itself is a 'growth'. Internet hasn't gotten there yet.

And my last point was same as I think kinnera's. That in absense of TV, they will get hooked to video games or random youtube videos. Total good bye to any development whatsoever.

Right now, cartoons is all your kids watch. And you are wrong in making a long term decision based on what they like now.

Long post. And I know you will still diss it. In the end, you are their dad, so you decide what you do about them. Nice to see you taking initiatives for them. My parenting style is different. (I am digressing a little bit from the TV topic here) I prefer to let them be indepedent, and find and choose things on their own. Well, they wouldn't let me be any other way anyway ( ). While I make sure it's within a safe boundary. I talk a lot to them to let them better chose. And I talk a lot to other parents too to see if we are collectively missing out on something.

Back to the topic. They themselves might pick internet over TV, and really, it'd be their choice. I will cut the cable in that case.

and who knew I would still have more to say on this topic. Most of us were tv generation kids ourselves. And we still have memories of what we ALL watched something on TV. Even this connects us with others many times. Watching something unfold live on tv (versus downloadign on internet later). And this includes the jingles. That in itself is an experience. Can't take that away from them.

Internet pe kya kya stream karoge?

I grew up with very little TV. As kids, my brother and I were permitted one hour of tv daily between the two of us. I was around 13 when my dad relented a bit and let us watch an additional hour of Sunday morning programming. I knew very little about tv shows as a child. My first ever animation movie was Finding Nemo and I was really old by then. My little cousins' had seen more already. I never saw Aladdin, I still dont know if the mouse is Tom or Jerry, I guess I dont even know what I've missed. We were allowed 2 movies a month for eons. All my friends thought my dad's tv-curfew was very draconian. By the time my dad relaxed these rule we had already developed other alternate interests to care about tv.

In terms of social settings, yes there have been office lunches, networking events where discussions hover around some TV shows and I'm unable to participate. And I guess there are many cultural references I dont get. But then I experience the same handicap when it comes to sports-related discussions and imo sports is a much bigger social glue than TV. As an adult you work your way around it; there are always things you dont know. Not sure if it's enough to make one socially dysfunctional but I think that's the worst there is to it.

When I moved out of home, i went berserk for a few years and watched a movie daily. That, imo, was much worse. But I still didn't get cable - not even basic cable - well into my mid 20s. Just didn't occur to me.

I do wonder if such rules still work with kids today. I entirely agree with Kinnera that if you do disconnect cable, you ought to substitute that time with your own company at least until your kids find other interests. My dad spent a lot of time with us so I dont look back at this with any resentment or hostility. My brother claims he will do the same as a parent i.e. very limited & highly regulated TV. He still doesn't have cable. He gets netflix, watches some shows online, it's worked out well for him.

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:even more fun when your daughter turns 13..

The most fun will be when she turns 18, discovers Sulekha and starts taking life advice from Uppili and Tracy. Bittu baba will commit suicide with a needle on his side (sooyi-side), guaranteed.