Comments on: 3 Reasons to turn off the TV

By: Brett Melton

Brett Melton — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:49:15 +0000

I agree with Deon. I learn a lot from Yahoo, YouTube, Wikipedia and other great sources. I just wish being on computers all day could be my job

Brett Melton
Home is Here: (washington il photos)

By: Lyndsey L

Lyndsey L — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:39:22 +0000

Sometimes, I need to just read because too much television warps my brain. Plus mostly what you read in books is more educational than movies and t.v. shows. right? Anyways, Reading is very healthy and I love it.

Lyndsey L
Physician Recruiter
(Physician Recruiting)

By: Deon Barnard: Motivation, Training, Development, Self Help, Philosophy

Deon Barnard: Motivation, Training, Development, Self Help, Philosophy — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:19:30 +0000

[...] off the TV. Read my two articles on the matter. ‘Nuff [...]

By: Basil

Basil — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:55:13 +0000

No Actually it’s a song by the ‘red hot chilli peppers’ and something I feel quite strongly about…

I thought having a huge screen television and planning our family room around it at home rather enticing… but (except for sport and the rare ‘great’ movie) it has become a division as I spend less quality time with my Missus and more lying on the couch (the paunch is proof) and watching stuff that I could actually do without…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:21:20 +0000

[...] popularity of my previous article on TV “3 Reasons to turn off the TV” was quite surprising to me, I have to say. I expected my rantings about the uselessness and [...]

By: Idu

Idu — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:28:48 +0000

I agree totally on the TV issue. I have never been one to glue myself to TV but my family is so into it. Whilst in America, the children only watched TV on the weekends and got to play with each other during the week. That made them bond and know each other better.
It is a complete waste of time and life.
I will definitely try it again this week. I know my 6 year old will be sad, but that will be for a few hours and she will definitely get over it.
I am hooked on the internet but mostly doing research on business opportunities yet to be explored. I need a bush!
I should probably sign up for school and get Chartered in some area or get a PHD. That’s exciting!
Ciao!

By: Deon Barnard

Deon Barnard — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:47:19 +0000

I think the TV (video/dvd/internet etc) can be a great tool for educational purposes if used in conjunction with a structured learning programme. I’m always using clips from movies in my training. Its the ‘vegetating in front of the telly’ that is so brain destroying. Thanks for the comment Judit – keep posting!

By: Judit Bolyó

Judit Bolyó — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:37:37 +0000

Oh, what a good topic, Deon! Last March I decided: no TV on weekdays for my 10-year-old daughter. First, she was furious, then sad, but soon she just forgot the TV because we started to talk more than before. And she got better marks at school. Unfortunatelly I cannot forbid totally the TV, because at school they talk a lot about programs, I just try to filter them. Oh, and I switch between languages, and this is the good point in TV: at home we speak Spanish (we live in Mexico) and Hungarian (I am Hungarian), and sometimes I “obey” my daughter to watch her programs in English (she is in a bilingual school). Isn´t it good in TV? But this is almost the only good thing in TV…

By: Penny

Penny — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:46:55 +0000

I have banned TV for my children during the week. I find it makes my 5-year old totally unmanageable. I think that the endless brain-mush spewed out in the name of children’s edutainment coupled with the flashing lights winds her up, without giving her the opportunity to work off the energy that seems to build up in her little body. The result is a hyperactive, overstimulated child with so much “noise” in her head that it is impossible to get through to her. She simply cannot process even the simplest request, instruction or comment after more than half an hour of TV. So I only allow some limited TV watching over the weekends, when I am more available to balance the effects by sending her outdoors to play.

I have another pet bug with the TV. My husband enjoys documentaries, so our TV is usually switched to Discovery, BBC Knowledge, or The History Channel. So far so good. Most of the content on these channels is pretty interesting and although not a big TV watcher myself, I can live with them in the background when I am busy about the house. What I really object to is the gratuitous violence shown not in the documentaries themselves, but in the ad-breaks! Our TV is often on in the pre-bedtime hours or on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon when the children are around, and my daughter will be innocently colouring in or doing a puzzle in the TV room, while Dad watches TV, only to have a shockingly violent image and its accompanying voice-over advertising an upcoming program on the Crime and Investigation Channel unexpectedly inflicted on her! It makes me LIVID! We are so careful to filter what our children are exposed to, and I make sure my children leave the room at the first sign that my husband is watching something that might not be suitable for them, only to have it broadcast through my home during an ad break!

By: Deon Barnard

Deon Barnard — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:31:05 +0000

Did you write this Basil?