How much tv did you watch as a kid? Do/did you let your kids watch the same amount? More? Less?

I watched tv when I was a kid, but it depended on the weather. The tv was on in the morning while we got ready for school, and then often it was on around/after dinner time. Most of the time, however, I was outside playing or doing other things. I hardly watched tv on the weekends unless I was sick.

My kids watch about 1 hour of tv per week – if that. There is no struggle with this because it has always been this way, and they don’t seem to have much tolerance for the tv anyway. Lego and creating stuff is much more interesting for my boys. And my daughter is a bookworm.

My son has had friends over and they are appalled that the tv isn’t on and we don’t have video games. The idea of playing creatively or exploring the stream behind our house seems to strike fear in them.

I was pretty much raised by television, video games, and books.

My son watches less TV, and since we don’t have TV service and instead rely on DVDs from the library or used book stores, I have much more control over what he watches than my parents did over my choices.

He does play a lot of video games, but I sincerely feel it does him more good than harm. We homeschool, so I keep track of what he is learning from each different game he plays, whether on the Wii, on his (neutered) computer, or on my laptop playing online games. Some of the games he plays are specifically educational: The JumpStart series by KnowledgeAdventure, “Curious George’s Read, Write, and Spell for 2nd Grade”, etc. He also gets plenty of time just playing Super Mario Bros. or Lego Star Wars. And at 5½ years old, he’s reading at an early third grade level, and can do mental math beyond my ability.

As an audio-kinesthetic learner, and as a five year old, playing to learn is just about the best thing for him.

None. No such animal. We did listen to the radio on Sunday nights as a family. The Jack Benny Show, Fred Allen, Duffy’s Tavern. AT some point my folks did get a black and white TV, a tiny screen in a huge console. It sat in the living room and we watched The Ed Sullivan Show.

I got a TV for my kids when they were young but we rarely bothered. There was too much else to do. As they got older, there was still too much else to do.

I was born in the days of one-tv-per-household, black and white. And TV went off the air around 10–11pm and didn’t come back on until 6:00am. And there were three channels – only. One for each network.

The only thing that was a for sure in my house was Huntley and Brinkley doing the news on NBC. After that, homework time. We might get to watch something on a weeknight if it was “educational”, or if there was important ball game on.

Growing up in the 60s – TV wasn’t what it is today.

My childhood TV watching was limited by not having a TV. It wasn’t missed.

I stopped being interested in it around age 14. My mother tried to ban me from watching a few shows, but usually gave up when I ignored her a few months later.

I guess I watched enough to get a lot of cultural references from that time period. Make an allusion even to Friends? I probably wouldn’t get it.

We had no TV until 1969, when my parents bought it to see the lunar mission. It was a black and white, maybe 15–17”. When I was older, our television viewing was restricted to be proportional to our bible study time – I forget what the ratio was. My parents got divorced and cable TV came out when I was 14 in 1980, so my mom got us a 27” color TV and I was hooked on HBO and then that cool new channel, MTV!

My son was born in the early ‘90s. We only turned the TV on if we were actually watching something. If he was playing and not watching, I’d turn it off – I think it’s insidious having that blaring in the background so much. In his early years, I limited it to PBS programs (frikkin’ Barney) and VCR movies. Once he got a little older, he watched the Nicktoons (loved Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys). If it was nice out, he had to go outside. TV was for when the weather was crappy or in the evening after dinner – basically, when there was nothing else to do.

Once he was 13, I allowed him to have a TV in his room, but I refused to pay for it – he had to use his own money. If he was misbehaving or his grades slacked, I pulled the cable out of the wall. I had to also restrict his video game time because he would go ballistic if he wasn’t doing well. I tried to strike a balance and teach him to be selective about what he chooses to spend his time on.

My parents didn’t limit our television. But being the youngest of four, I was at the bottom of the media hierarchy. Meaning I didn’t really get to choose what I watched until junior high (when my last sibling went off to college). But I didn’t really care. So much more interesting things to do than watch TV.

On the other hand, my husband grew up with his parents limiting how much TV they could watch. Ironically, now as adults, both he and his sibling are kind of television crazy. First thing on in the morning and last thing off at night. Television in the bedroom, the living room and in the kitchen.

Before we had kids, it wasn’t an issue. When we had our first kid, we had a big argument about it. Now, I just see it as a challenge. Instead of arguing about turning the TV off, I just try to engage my kids in a way that’s more entertaining than staring at a box. Really not that hard!

I watched a lot of TV, especially as I got older, about age 12+. When I was very young I played with my sister and friends more. My family ate dinner together almost every night before I became a teenager and there was no TV in the dining room.

My parents used the “blue babysitter” to keep us occupied morning noon and night. Later, after I got some freedom, I only watched a couple of shows a week.

We did not own a TV when my kids were little.

We had one tv in my house growing up and we all watched it together 90% of the time. Usually after dinner and some on weekends. I rarely was alone with the tv.

We do the same thing now in my house, with my daughter.

Also, I really don’t like tvs in bedrooms. Bedrooms are for two things in my opinion, sleeping and sex.

I love my TV in my bedroom and I recently added DVR to increase my cuddle time with my husband. I think just the opposite of what most people do and from what the experts say. We both love TV and we would watch in our family room until so exhausted that by the time we got to the bedroom we were asleep practically before out head hit the pillow. With our favorite shows in the bedroom we get ready for bed early, relax lying next to each other, comortable, warm under the blankets. I like it much better.

I never watched too much TV. Cable wasn’t available to me for a significant amount of time, either. Spongebob and Family Guy are what made up most of my childhood television-watching. I don’t have kids but TV doesn’t hold much importance to me.

We only got three channels and I spent most of my time working or riding my bike. I might see a little TV in the AM before school. But not much until Fall.

There were only 3 shows I sacrificed being outside to watch…Mighty Mouse, Speed Racer and Thunderbirds. Other than those shows TV in the 60’s sucked.

I didn’t watch a lot of TV but I watched enough to know that I miss the Nickelodeon of the 90s!