Kids and Television
Mon., July 11, 03:54 PM
The newspaper’s question of the week is: Should children have television in their own rooms? Ignoring the fact that I was an adult before I had my own room, I certainly have my own opinions of television. In any case, it was a question I had to answer. Here's my answer: I’ll let you know whether they print it.
Giving a child his own television removes the most important piece of the child’s education – the supervision and input of his parent. A child can watch almost anything as long as there’s a parent to explain and answer questions. Using television as a babysitter is not acceptable.
Watching television alone – or without adult supervision – also removes the social aspects of viewing. Children don’t magically develop civilized behavior like cooperation and sharing; they need company to do that.
In the days before special technology, if my children were to be alone for any length of time without a parent, I took the TV knobs with me!
On the wildlife front, the kitty I used to call Floppy (as in floppy disk) has gotten kind of chunky since she was neutered. She looks more like a zip disk now. (Sorry.)
She has never been a friendly cat, never comes to me or lets me pat her. So I was kind of surprised when she called me one morning as I went out to pick up the newspaper. She meowed and ran a little, then stopped to see if I was following; she repeated that several times, until I realized that she was leading me to the neighbors in the back, and I wasn’t about to start a conversation at 6:30 a.m. – without my face on!
This morning Ms. Floppy was on my back porch, and she meowed as soon as she spotted me in the window. Waited again to see whether I would follow. Son of a gun – the little devil is calling me because Mrs. Neighbor-Out-Back isn't feeding her fast enough! The colossal nerve!
Speaking of neighbors, Miss Neighbor-Next-Door is still in the hospital. We’re picking up her mail and newspapers till she gets back. Is she my wake-up call?
