I'm not a
parent. I don't plan on having kids for
a long time. Despite this fact, whether it's
biological hardware or simply
nagging thoughfulness, I keep thinking about how I will
raise my kids when I do have some.
The prospect of my children watching
TV scares the
hell out of me.
The
goddamn noisy box is so full of
mindless garbage and
consumer conditioning, that I can't imagine subjecting any of my
offspring to such stupidity, since, like anyone, I'd like my kids go far in life.
Slathering their
defenseless little minds with
opium lard like the
Teletubbies doesn't seem like the best way to help them
accomplish this, does it?.
That the
medium of
television is
blatantly aimed at
creating and
maintaining good
consumers, I will not argue here.
I've already presented that argument.
Sure. I watched it as a
child as much as any other kid, and I came out all right, at least, as far as I can tell. Maybe it's just one of those things, like when
parents worry about their
children and
constrain them, even though they despised that sort of
restraint as children themselves.
When I think about my own
childhood, though, and about
kids I knew who weren't allowed to watch TV, I
balk I don't want to be one of those highly
restrictive parents.
But most of those kids came from
hyper-
christian households. They couldn't watch
the smurfs because
Gargamel was
the Devil. They couldn't watch
Pac-Man because
ghost monsters were
the Devil, they couldn't watch
He-Man because
Skeletor was
the Devil. So maybe that's something different. One thing, when I think back on it now, strikes me as a little
odd. They were allowed to watch
Voltron.
Go figure. : P
So maybe that's a little different. It's not
violence,
drugs,
blasphemy or
sex, that I'm afraid of. It's
stupidity;
intentional stupidity.
My father always
respected my ability to make
good decisions once he thought I was
informed and I have a deep
reciprocal respect now, because of that.
If I'm trying to encourage my kids to be
independent thinkers, how will it help if I tell them even once, "You can't do that," when I know it's not something that will
endanger them
directly?
After giving this
matter much thought, I think perhaps I'll let them watch
TV at friends' houses, if they
wish. I don't think I'll have one in my house, though, except for the
DVD player, or whatever the current
technology is.
Speaking of
technology, maybe I'm thinking
out of date. Maybe they won't even want to watch the
TV. Maybe they'll be
internet and
computer game junkies, just like
Daddy.