TV and Children…
I’ve been reading a lot about parenting and i would love to discuss them here. My greatest concern is about television and children.
It hits me in the head when i read “Endangered Minds” by pro. M. Healy. Her evidence, although not totally scientific, is very disturbing. Everyone was once a child. And i was among those who are the victim of television. I remembered sitting in front of the tv doing nothing, literally. I don’t even remember thinking about what the show was about although the show was interesting such as cartoon. I would go into tantrum if the tv was turned off and the tantrum would go for hours until my either parents scolds me. I was lucky to have those kind of parents (else, i don’t know what would happen to me if they just let me be). I also noticed that, just like what prof m. healy hypothesized, i was good at mathematics and sciences, but was very bad with language (nevertheless, i still managed to get enough a’s in my SPM - equivalent to O level). I didn’t have persistence, and i had no interest in written material. When i read books, i would only look at the pictures.
Luckily, i was sent to a boarding school and my tv hours almost diminished to 2 hours per week. However, the damage was already done. I still lacked persistence and concentration, and i was always hasty and restless. My homework were usually not done (and it still a habit until now in the university) to the end unless the teacher was very strict.
I believe that when i have a family in the future, my tv set will not be connected to tv services. It will only be connected to a DVD player (or Blu-Ray Disc for that matter) and possibly a game system which i will only allow strategy game, or rpg games with heavy storyline like Final Fantasy series. A hint of blind hack n slash, shallow shooting games, or trial and error puzzle games, i will throw the disc away.
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