Comment from zero
Time: October 21, 2005, 12:31 am

Is it possable that she isn’t permitting them to watch Television or read magazines due to the fact that they might see their Kabala(spelling?) preaching, perfect mother really isn’t exactly as perfect as she would like to be.

Comment from AJ
Time: October 21, 2005, 10:41 am

Her views on TV mirror my own. No TV. Occassional videos or movies.

I think it’s more likely that she wants to do a better job raising her kids than her own parents did. You can Vchip and watch TV with your kids, but that doesn’t cut it in my book. There’s simply not much control for parents today when the commercials are worse than the TV programs.

Comment from zero
Time: October 22, 2005, 11:43 pm

Yet, how can you argue those facts when you grew up viewing nearly the same things on Television as you’re forbidding your children from watching? Isn’t that slightly a double standard? If you apparently were raised properly and to well standards(Mostl likely, by parents who had no problem with you watching television), then how can you limit them from it?

Television isn’t corrupting minds, I’m watching as I type this; and can honestly say that I don’t know one person who’s come to me explaining that they are what they’re like because of what they’ve seen on TV. Parents blame TV, children don’t.

Get over it.

Comment from Mark Sicignano
Time: October 23, 2005, 5:49 pm

My kids watch TV, and I make sure what they’re watching isn’t inappropriate and I try to keep them within reasonable limits.

However, I disagree with the notion that our kids are growing up with nearly the same things on television that we did.

When I grew up we didn’t have cable TV. We had ABC, CBS, NBC, and 2-3 other independent stations. We had one TV in the house. And a stay-at-home mom that kept tabs.

I grew up with Gilligan’s Island and Hogan’s Heros. Todays kids have a wider selection of shows with a lot more violence and sexual content. With multiple TVs and multiple working parents, kids often have access to things that are nothing like what we had access to.

Compare watching “The Monkees” to watching a Britney Spears video. Hey, as an adult, I don’t mind seeing Beyoncé’s booty shaking like she does it, but I don’t need my daughter seeing that.

At any rate, blaming TV is pointless. TV is what it is. There’s plenty of crap on it, but on a minority of channels you can find quality programming. Parents simply have to take responsibility and manage the television like anything else.

I applaud Madonna for taking a stand and in interest in what her daughter is doing with her time. I see nothing wrong with a “do as I say, not as I do” approach.

I’m sure that you won’t find many grownups who, as kids, had little or no TV, who now complain that they feel that they were cheated out of anything. They almost certainly filled their time with more interesting and productive activities.

Comment from AJ
Time: October 24, 2005, 11:18 pm

Sorry Zero, but the stuff on TV today is not the stuff I grew up watching. Not even in the same ballpark.

I didn’t say TV was corrupting minds. That’s a loaded verb.

TV is simply a waste of time. I don’t need a better reason. There is educational potential, and when that arises, we may tap it.

Comment from Mark Sicignano
Time: October 24, 2005, 11:41 pm

Another way to look at it… for those that think TV isn’t all that bad…

For a moment, let’s assume that it’s not full of garbage programming. Let’s just say that it’s entertaining, and not harmful.

Even if that was the case, consider that the average kid is watching it for a few hours a day. If they’re spending all of that time watching it, then what other activities does that viewing time displace.

It’s not just the value of TV that’s up for debate here. It’s the loss of the value of the things that kids aren’t doing as a result of wasting all of that time watching TV.