Tuned

We had cable TV installed on Saturday. It wasn't available until last week out here "in the country" where we live. So previously when people would talk about various television shows they were watching I could say "oh we don't have cable" and feel a little smug. It felt sort of good and wholesome and noble to not have cable TV, like I was making some sort of political statement, even though I wasn't. I'm not against television. I let my kids watch TV more than I probably should, but they spend plenty of time outside playing and playing in their rooms (which do not have TVs) as well.

I feel sort of inferior to those parents who do not have a television and those who strictly limit their children's viewing habits though I do not share the opinion that television is all bad. I liken my philosophy on television viewing to my philosophy on candy. Some days are special days and you can have all the candy you want. That will probably mean you won't get much candy, if any at all, tomorrow. But there will be more special days. I will not tell you that you cannot have any candy ever, because that will probably make you want the candy more...the forbidden fruit and all that. When you can have candy (television) almost any time you want it, it loses some of the appeal. It's ordinary.

And now we have cable and get more channels than we'll ever watch. The kids now know that cartoons are, indeed, still on at 8 o'clock at night. They will still have to go to bed. But there will be special days ahead and they will have all the candy they want.

What are your views on children and television viewing?