Well did you miss me?

So I didn't go anywhere I just didn't feel like sharing what was going on over the past little while. Some of you who actually read this and I have regular contact with know what the issues were but I am not going to rehash them out here. If you want/must know you can email me a 250 word essay why you need to know...

So what to rant about today... TV I hate TV sure there are some great shows on it I prefer the Discovery Channel, but my boys prefer Teletoon and Treehouse. Both of which I can't stand, especially Teletoon. Admittedly I have watched some shows on it such as Robot Chicken and Tripping the Rift just simply to amuse and titillate but those spurts are usually short lived. I have often wondered how people can get so into TV so that they must schedule their lives around it. I understand the infirm have a need for it but they don't have to watch it all the time they could pick up a book and read. Play a game or even create something artistic.

I think my biggest issue is I am being led when I watch TV. I am being pulled along to see someone's opinion on something or how someone sees the world. Sure there are some great stories out there and some wonderful documentaries. You still need to have a strong enough mind to make your own conclusions on the evidence submitted. I think that watching TV is breaking down that ability for people to think, to deduce and to conclude. For instance my parents watch TV nearly non stop when they are home. I can't have an intelligent conversation for more than 10 minutes with either of them as they don't have the attention span or they are lacking in the cognitive functions required to take part in the conversation.

Sadly my oldest loves TV, he would rather watch it than anything else. I often wonder if that is my fault. Do I spend too much time reading? Do I not encourage him enough to be able to play and use his imagination in that? I have been reading to him Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which he is enjoying. We don't read together every night but we try to make time for it 3-4 times a week. I am no story teller or a public reader by any stretch of the imagination but he enjoys it and so do I, so I suppose that is what matters.

I wonder about the societal implications that television will have on the children of today. I know there are affects already happening right now with the desire for instant gratification syndrome we have developed in the teens of today. Will it worsen with the 0-8 year olds of today? I think as parents we need to really monitor what our children do and have a greater impact in what they watch and when they can watch TV. I am not so against the idea of watching movies but the TV shows where they just seem so senseless.

I don't know maybe I am out of line in my thinking, maybe I expect too much from my children, from other people children...