Drug of the nation

Television… What is it good for… oh hang on. That’s a different song.

I am a big fan of television. Not, of course, what is on the television necessarily, but the medium itself. I cannot imagine a world without it (well I can, but it would certainly be a less informed world; similarly I cannot imagine a world without email, but that’s another story). I have a gripe with the content of television broadcasts, of course, but that shouldn’t take away from the facility of light capture and retransmission which has revolutionised the planet.

I am writing this as a response to my own guilt for letting Max watch the telly too often than might be considered acceptable for some people. To be honest he probably does watch too much, but then he enjoys it and it is educational so what is the real harm? We are very careful not to let him watch anything containing violence or advertising (which is worse?!).

The way I look at it (simplistically) is that screens of some nature, be they CRT or TFT etc, will form an enormous part of his life, from school, to work, to his personal life that in my opinion he’s only getting some good practice in at this early stage which will leave him in good stead for the rest of his life. Alternatively, of course, his eyes might turn square by the time he’s 10.

People often demonise the little box in the front room as being the root of modern ills etc. What a load of rubbish! If everyone watched Postman Pat and Pingu all the time instead of Big Brother or Death Wish 11 then there would be no ills in the world (that’s the subject of another rant).

What do we do when he gets older and learns that there are “cool” and “groovy” programs (that his friends all watch) (probably on E4)? Do we let him watch them? For good or bad my parents let me watch things not suitable for my age, presumably because they either thought the censors had gotten it wrong or that I was intelligent enough to bypass the rules. I don’t feel particularly unbalanced because of it so I think they probably got it about right. Perhaps it taught me a number of more valuable lessons: that not all that glitters is gold and perhaps be careful what one wishes for. Also I think I probably gained a sort of self-regulation regarding what I actually really wanted to watch, which in itself gave me a boost in critical thinking.

Perhaps none of this is true and it makes little difference either way. The real problem is that there is no clear evidence of the effects of television on the young (or old for that matter). It is a hugely complicated sociological issue with factors as diverse as wealth, opportunities, IQ, intelligence, program content, education, health, parental attendance etc. How can someone decide what the optimal amount of television they watch should be?! I think what’s required is a gut/brain balance whereby we should use our brains to set the standard we want to apply and then moderate the application of those standards with gut feelings. Besides… I like watching Pingu too.

Of course, some of this derives from guilt about not spending enough “quality time” with Max. We spend relatively a large amount of quality time with Max at the moment. Relative to what?! Well relative to other parents in our modern age, but perhaps not relative to pre-historic homo sapiens who presumably spent a lot of QT with their young (when they weren’t hunting dinosaurs (and feeling guilty about not spending enough QT with the tribe), although arguably it was the grandparents who spent proportionately more time with the youngsters). As with almost everything a happy medium is available which I imagine includes some TV, some playing with toys and some nursery-style care involving peer interaction. I don’t think the guilt will ever go away.

It’s difficult for parents to decide what’s best for their children given that society isn’t geared towards generating the best and healthiest members of society. Instead it’s designed to make money and wealth. There is always going to be a struggle between making money and spending time with children. Hopefully we can get this balance right. In either eventuality at least he’s got the telly to watch!