One of the great blessings of my childhood is that we did not have a TV set until I was in the 8th grade.
Yes, that is right. I lived until the age of 13 in a household without a television.
Spare me your expressions of sympathy. It was an incredible advantage, “for as the twig is bent, so grows the tree.”
With no one-eyed god to worship, no vast wasteland in which to fritter away our evenings, no toxic dump to pollute our minds and stifle our creativity and imaginations, we did simple things. We read, talked to each other about our days, shared our thoughts, rode bikes, played board games, did our homework. Mundane family stuff.
I grew up with a love of reading that persists today, and in my office at home is a library where every wall surface that is not a window or a mirror is a bookshelf. As I write now, I am surrounded by books and it is a place where I am most comfortable.
My library is 70% to 80% non-fiction, although there is a vibrant science fiction section. SiFi always stroked my imagination. Loved it as a youngster, still do today. And there is a decent action-adventure section. And I once went through a western kick, Louis L’Amour mainly.
Books have been my mentors, my guides, my teachers, incredible wells of wisdom. To me, each book represents the accumulated knowledge of the author’s lifetime, summarized and distilled for my edification and enrichment. I can lift my gaze and let it travel along the spines of the volumes whose presence embraces me. Each title brings back memories of the journey of learning the author and I traveled together.
Someone once asked me where I found the time to read so much. Finding time to read is simple. I don’t watch TV.
This is a classic from the NSC Blog archive. Originally posted February 28, 2008.
Yes!
Dear Nathan,
I wish your message could be posted on every billboard nation-wide.
Often, after watching a movie based on a “good book”
the common viewers’ critic is “Oh, the book was far superior…”
No wonder! you are looking at images filtered through someone else’s imagination and experiences.
Why not use YOUR OWN? Just READ THE BOOK!
This is just one example that comes to mind…
Thanks for pointing it out.
Best regards to all,
Dalia
Nate, that’s so cool! Mom & Dad did something like this for us too. My sister and I were allowed one hour of TV each per week, and two hours for Saturday morning cartoons. We could watch each other’s hours too, but that was it as far as permitted TV watching time. I can’t say either of us felt it was a bad thing — there was always so much to do, after all! Homework, chores, riding the horses, talking around the dinner table, reading — always reading, for me.
Nowadays we have a TV, but we’ve not even bothered hooking it up. We use it to watch the occasional movie together, and that’s about it. I really like the extra time, and considering the so-called plots of some of the TV shows I’ve heard about, I think we’re the winners.
And no Game Boys or PS II’s or DS’s or Wii’s or whatever-the-latest-brain-cell-sucking device is! Not only do these prohibit our children (and some grown-ups I know!) from exercising their minds with recreational reading and their academic studies, but they also keep them from engaging their bodies in healthy play, running, climbing, swimming, biking, fresh air, sunshine and the amazingly beautiful pictures found by exploring our Earth. No plasma, bits, bytes, or miniscule digital dots can replicate the wonderous colors and portraits painted by Mother Nature.
There are just as many useless books as there are useless televsion shows! Ultimately, it’s not whether you choose to read or watch TV that matters, it’s WHAT you choose TO read or TO watch! Personally, I am thankful that I had shows like Mr. Wizard and MacGyver when I was growing up. They sparked my interest in science and technology. And to this day, I will drop what I am doing to watch a rerun of I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, or old classic Disney cartoons.
People often say the sky is the limit when you use your imagination. But the truth is, your imagination is often limited by your own exposure and experiences. For those of us who don’t have the luxury of traveling to far off lands, watching a movie filmed in Europe adds a dimension that no book can touch. And anyone passionate about science and medicine may just as likely be glued to the Discovery Channel as to their text book. As far as I’m concerned, there is nothing wrong with either.
Television is not responsible for ignorance any more than guns are responsible for deaths. The only ones responsible are those that are RESPONSE-ABLE and that would be the individual person!
For the record, I have NEVER read an entire book in my life. I’ve faked many a book report as well. I just never had the patience to sit and read when I could absorb the same information in seconds through a visual medium.
Fascinating Perspective Jackie; I can feel your passion!
Agree wholeheartedly that there are great TV programs and junk books
I would suggest that TV has an addictive quality books do not
Unless your television set is secreting a chemical substance that inhibits your ability to lift the remote control and depress the off button, then I’d have to disagree with the idea that television might have an addictive quality that books do not. In fact, a room filled floor to ceiling, and corner to corner with books might be perceived as an addiction to some.
The bottom line is there is a negative connotation associated with watching television, and a positive connotation with reading books. The merit of one over the other is being based on assumptions about the quality of the content contained in each. Moreover, the blame for social and moral decay is being placed on inanimate objects instead of on the people that choose what these objects will be filled with. Or more specifically, on the individuals that line up to have their heads filled with the same objectionable content.
The true measure of a person’s contribution to society and his/her own personal worth can not be computed by adding the number of books read and subtracting from it the number of hours spent watching television. Whether you choose books, television, games, or a walk in the park to pass the time makes no difference if the intent was merely to PASS THE TIME in the first place. But when you choose any of these activities instead of doing something you SHOULD be doing, then they each become equally ineffective uses of time.
Hi Jon! hope all is well with you and yours! where are you stationed now?
Dalia! long time! How’s the NYC Real Estate market treating you? Your son?
Collie!
My dear Cousin! as a twig is bent! seems like de minimus TV was a extended family tradition! Amazing to see how parental norms can get transfered down the generations (pro or con) and what a ripple effect!
Our dad limited both tv and computer games to 1 hr/day. While it seems that many people lump gaming and tv together, I think that computer games can either be as mentally stimulating and active as good books or they can be a soul-sucking waste of time like most tv. I learned a lot about organization and management from playing strategy games. On the other hand, computer games obviously fail as a medium for many types of knowledge compared to books.