TV Just Is

Gunta shared her observations about various aspects of TV at Radical Unschooling:

I felt like putting together some of the responses I felt while reading the TV discussion.

Information content. I can read a book/newspaper/magazine/online site and I can watch TV for news/information about subjects I am interested in.

References. Many TV programs state who is their expert, there are million of ways to check the info out - and, from the other hand, many books do not have references.

Giving ready-made ideas. Both books and media have those, I guess, that is one of the points.

Addiction. One can get addicted to books or TV. If one wants to keep the mind away from the now, there are very many ways to do that. Books, TV, booze, relationships, adrenaline - you name it. Books and TV (and the rest of limitless options) are just ways.

Entertainment. I would argue that there are as many books that are meant to be purely entertaining as there are TV shows.

Zoning out. Is zoning out while listening to classical music better than zoning out while watching TV or reading a book? One can zone out doing anything. Cooking, walking, watching a sunset, building, gardening, watching TV.

I could argue that we live in a book culture - everyone I know owns several, there are libraries full of books, there is written word everywhere.

Oh, and the historical perspective. Books were used to be seen as evil when they were still a rather new invention. You see, kids were reading instead of using their own imaginations or memorizing the stories of their older kinsmen. Women were reading and getting wrong ideas. Cultures were changing. Sound familiar?

Connection makes a big difference, being able to choose freely makes a huge difference, too. I could argue that gardening is great for everybody and make my children garden. I could argue that excessive physical activity is bad/dangerous for humans and limit my children's moving to, say, 1 hour a day. My beliefs are behind reading books and watching TV, too.

TV just is.