How does a quiet evening of wine and dance followed by a late dinner and a stroll in the park sound? Dulcet, huh? But is it actually possible? Let’s say we plan for one such nothing-else-but-the-two-of-us evening and start with the wine, wouldn’t Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor tear us apart with invisible fists? Our lives seem to be built around television. Expressions like “Let’s be home for So You Think You Can Dance” and “Eat up quick the Emmy Awards is on TV!” in restaurants and shopping malls are pretty common these days.
In a world where almost everyone is hurrying back from school or office to catch their favourite TV shows, where television is more than a mere entertainment tool, it indeed is rare to come across a home without one. We were thus excited when we came across the blog of an American mom who claimed that they didn’t have a TV set at home. Beginning with how her daughter was teased in her schoolyard for not having a TV, the mother goes on to talk about a study that showed that American kids are watching just 25 minutes less TV than adults did five years ago.
The family does watch TV using her laptop, but given the small size and the fact that it cannot equal an actual television, the hours spent watching are considerably less. And less TV time obviously will lead to more quality time with family and other activities that would have not been possible, had there been a TV blaring in the living room. But the point that we wish to make here is that, the mother isn’t all that sure-footed about their decision to go without a TV.
Plagued by fears if the lack of exposure will lend the kids couch potatoes when they grow up, she closes the blog with “Should we just go ahead and buy a damn television set?” That’s when all the admiration that we built up for her crumbles. You too, Brutus?
