Paul- Along with Stephen, I do see your point. And I see his. Perhaps, as Stephen has said, it is true that DVR frees us to a point (Digital Video Recorder is the generic form for TIVO and others). You could, for example, put the recorder/sat-receiver in the mater bedroom. Then have the kids (and you) rank and vote to record and watch certain programs. You can set it up so that the DVR plays in other rooms when you allow it.
But I also see your point that a) this isn't totally necessary and b) the TV is still taking a lot of effort and time that just eliminating it doesn't give and c) spending 40 bucks or more a month to watch an hour or two of TV a day makes it a rather expensive proposition for many/most of us. I could also point out that the DVR or TIVO have costs of their own (usually 5.00 or more a month). You can get TIVO free if you subsribe to EVERYTHING on DirectTV for example but that's spending 90 dollars a month. I can surely think of other things to spend from 500 to 1000 dollars a year on. And what if you invested that much?!?! Much as I personally take Stephen's side- I love my TIVO/DVR and the freedom it gives to watch BBC News, Midsomer Murders, Good Eats, New Tricks, etc (I teach at least one film course a year and this year our theme is "the detective")- I have to tell you, Paul, that I admire your taking the interest in your kids to make that decision. I would throw a monkey wrench into your argument though. It is true that the TV may have played a role in the improved socialization of the neighbor's kids- but the time period you mention is also the time one would expect them to begin to re-orient following the break-up of their family. (I can't keep that researcher quite in my head- Paul, I really do admire your choice and alternative explanation be damned!) Truth is it is likely a bit of both anyway. Take care all- Turning off the TV tonight to visit friends (but we are taping two shows to watch later!) No guts here! Tim _______________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Professor and Chair Department of Psychology Albertson College of Idaho Caldwell, ID 83605 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; history and systems -----Original Message----- From: Paul Okami [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sat 10/21/2006 7:51 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Re: Does television rot your brain? I'm aware of these devices. However, once the 200 channels exist in the house the number of possible watchable programs increases dramatically over what is available on DVD. When you add the fact that a household is filled with different people with different tastes, the number of programs that will be watched, and time spent in front of the TV, increases exponentially. Also, one's criteria for what constitutes a "must see" program becomes dramatically lower when one does not have to make a special effort to obtain the program (rent it, buy it, pirate it, etc.). No, there's absolutely nothing one can do about the TV--again, in my opinion--other than throw it out. Anecdotally, that is what my neighbor just did. She is the mother of five children and now has become a single mother. She noticed how she had been forced to use the TV to care for her children, allowing them to watch more or less as they pleased. She also realized that she had to some extent been doing that already, given her and her husband's work schedule. She threw the TV out. Several things then happened. First, her children went crazy. They did not know how to entertain themselves, create things, read books for longer than a few moments. They wept repeatedly. The next thing that happened was that after about two months, these children, whom we basically had not been able to allow into our homes previously because they just wouldn't listen to reason, became genuinely calmer, better playmates, started to read, and a bunch of other positive developments I'm sure nobody will believe had anything to do with the loss of TV (but I do). Anecdotal stuff, after all. Regards, Paul --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
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