Does Television Bring Families Together Or Create Isolation?
When I was growing up there was one television in the house. The bulky console TV was situated in the living room and my parents chose what we watched from three network stations and one local channel. Countless evenings of my childhood were spent with my family gathered around that old TV set watching my father’s favorite westerns or some cheesy sitcom.
My kids were reared in the age of electronics. Children these days are more likely than not to have a television in their bedroom and with hundreds of cable channels and a vast array of recording devices their choice of programming is virtually limitless. These personal TV sets can have a dramatic effect on family dynamics.
I have nothing against putting a TV in a child’s bedroom and in fact all of my kids had their own TV well before they were teenagers. I think children need to be given the independence of choosing what they want to watch and when. Of course I have placed safeguards such as password-protected blocks against certain types of programs. I also make a special effort to encourage family TV time.
My family is very competitive so a sure way to coax my kids out of their room is an opportunity to show off in front of their siblings. Any kind of game show will do the trick. We got a lot of family fun out of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and regularly watch Jeopardy together. My family also enjoys competition reality shows such as Survivor and Hell’s Kitchen so this gives us another chance for family entertainment.
In effect television has the ability to bring families together and to create isolation. The trick is finding programs that appeal to everyone in the family and creating a family tradition of watching favorites together.