Quiting TV for a year?

  • Thread starter Thread starter matlori
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

matlori

Guest
I am reading a wonderful book about virtues. In the Justice section it aske what gets in my way of justice. It is Just that i shoul go to church on Sundays, pray by my self and my family ect. So I thought about it, and yes TV gets in the way!It also gets in the way of homeschooling, parenting and cleaning the house! so I told my husband that I would like to give up tv for a year, by myself (unless he wanted to join of corse!)
He said that he would support me in it, but he thought it was unrealisic, and the benifits would end after the year was up. He wants me to learn how to be a better TV WATCHER
In stead of giving up tv and movies for a year, should I just be more carful in what I watch? If so, what would be a good set of questions to ask myself to decide if it was a good program or not?
Lori
 
matlori said:
I am reading a wonderful book about virtues. In the Justice section it aske what gets in my way of justice. It is Just that i shoul go to church on Sundays, pray by my self and my family ect. So I thought about it, and yes TV gets in the way!It also gets in the way of homeschooling, parenting and cleaning the house! so I told my husband that I would like to give up tv for a year, by myself (unless he wanted to join of corse!)
He said that he would support me in it, but he thought it was unrealisic, and the benifits would end after the year was up. He wants me to learn how to be a better TV WATCHER
In stead of giving up tv and movies for a year, should I just be more carful in what I watch? If so, what would be a good set of questions to ask myself to decide if it was a good program or not?
Lori
Click to expand...
Well, I have been without a TV set since the year 1985. And mostly stopped going to movies in 1989. I just got tired of the endless, noisy, mind-numbing commercials. I was bored with all the sex and violance.

Of course, I have some adavantages that many people do not.
  1. I’m a confirmed bachelor (a man who has never made the same mistake once:rolleyes:)
  2. I live in Los Angeles, which has both a 24 hour classical music station and a 24 hour jazz station, both non-commercial.
  3. I love to read books.
  4. I have three cats to take care of.
  5. I pray the LOTH in full each day
So my life is rich and full. TV and movies would eat into all that quality time.

But like abything else, you can start off small. Perhaps just a week at a time. As the weeks go by and you get more used to it, switch to a month at a time, and so on.👍
 
why dont you take it a little at a time? Another idea is to choose in advance what shows you will watch perhaps only you 3 favorite shows? I think the term is watching with intent rather than mindless watching cause I have nothin better to do.
 
A couple years ago I did give up tv for lent. It was great! I only watch one show in the morning, but when hubby gets home the tv is turned on and I find myself sitting there staring into the screen watching things I hve no interest in. Such a waist of time!
I think I would like to give it up for lent again. I also would like to more picky about what I waste my time on after that. I shouldnt need help on this, but I do. I need a guide on how to watch tv that does not go against the church. I watch realy bad moves and soaps. I must get away from those.
 
I don’t care much for TV and could give it up altogether much easier than I could give up my computer. I watch a couple shows occasionally and listen to the news once in a while. Sometimes I will watch the old sitcoms - “Andy Griffith” and “I Love Lucy” - also “Leave it to Beaver”. Interesting how they still make me laugh after all these years. Days can go by - maybe even weeks - before I turn on my TV. I got so tired of the mindless shows and the sex and violence. I work a lot of hours and take care of my dogs and look after an elderly neighbor - not much time for TV anyways. I don’t have children and if I did, I think I would throw out the TV.

A junior high school student who lives locally gave up TV for a long period of time - can’t remember how long. One of the newspapers interviewed him and wrote a nice article.
 
I gave up TV when I was forced out of a full-time job due to my being a pro-life Catholic. That was back in May of 2008. Something just told me that I wanted to get far, far away from the mainstream culture, since it had turned out to be an enemy of mine with its culture of death values.

Now I’m an artist who also works at contract technical writing positions. Have sold artwork coast to coast online, from New York to California, as well as internationally. Won an award at a local art gallery exhibit. Just sold a photo from off the wall at a holiday exhibit up in New York State. Am going to Niagara Falls this coming week to pick up some artwork from a different holiday exhibit.

Sure beats watching TV! 👍

~~ the phoenix
 
I quit watching TV by accident when the digital switch happened. We bought one of those converter boxes, but we can’t seem to make it work properly. It’s funny - I was pretty anxious about getting it up and running in time for the switch, but when we actually lost the signal for good, it was no big deal.

Now, the only time I really miss it is when the Ravens play football. And this week, they start in the playoffs! Drat!

Betsy
 
I would recommend it! I haven’t tried it… unfortuantely both my mom and dad each like wastching their own tvs. I’m no psychologist, but I think the constant competing noise from the two tvs makes it easier for us to be restless and get agitated at each other.

Actually in gov’t class today, the time the tv became prevalent was the 60s, and with all the cultural **** that happened I don’t think this is a “crowning achievement” we should be proud of. The history of the tv is not so good.

Perhaps in a few years when I have a family of my own, we’ll have one annoyingly little tv in like the laundry room, so that perhaps if they’re selecting a new pope my kids can see that. Wait - we can just get it online with ewtn. Never mind :rolleyes: I’m much more partial to radio… I think I’ll end up getting a house based satellite radio and we can listen to stuff like Catholic Answers and those goofy guys from St Joe’s for entertainment 🙂
 
Your idea may be a good one. You’ve reflected on the book about virtues, thought about how to put the ideas into practice, and talked it over with your husband. Have you asked God about it? If not, that should be your next step.

I disagree with your husband that the benefits would end after the year was up. Several months ago my spiritual director said I should cut way back on my TV watching and internet use. Shortly after this I felt the Lord was telling me to totally STOP going on craigslist (“how long?” I protested, horrified. ‘For the time being.’ He said) and also to trash all the catalogs that I get in the mail without opening them (oh, no!) and then (worst of all) to stop reading fiction until after Christmas. None of this is something I would have dreamed up on my own.

So I did that, with some bitchin’ and backsliding. But honestly, after a time the desire for these things pretty much went away. I really can’t remember how I had the time to do it all anyway. I don’t feel like taking the time to watch TV much anymore, and if I do it’s something I really want to see and I concentrate on it and enjoy it more than previously.

IMHO giving up TV for a much shorter time, one or two months, might be enough to break the habit or compulsion and you would find yourself naturally becoming more selective in what you decide to watch.

You mentioned home schooling. And you said your husband is willing to support you in this. I just wondered, have you broached the subject with your kids? And what kind of response did, or will, you get?? Maybe not quite so supportive?😃
 
baltobetsy said:
I quit watching TV by accident when the digital switch happened. We bought one of those converter boxes, but we can’t seem to make it work properly. It’s funny - I was pretty anxious about getting it up and running in time for the switch, but when we actually lost the signal for good, it was no big deal.

Now, the only time I really miss it is when the Ravens play football. And this week, they start in the playoffs! Drat!

Betsy
Click to expand...
Go RAVENS! Invite yourselves to a friend’s house, one with a big screen set. Take snacks. Wear purple.
 
I agree that setting a shorter goal time might be best to start off with, but I think it’s a great idea. Back in 1998, I gave up watching TV for a 3 week time period as a sacrifice for the success of a retreat I was involved with. I vowed to spend every hour I normally spent in front of the TV in the chapel praying in front of the tabernacle. At the time, I was watching 2-3 hours of TV a day.

It was really a life-altering experience. This period was when I first picked up some spiritual reading and apologetics and really began to understand my faith. I was really a slave to TV. There were shows that I just “had” to watch, not because they were necessarily that good but simply because I had never missed an episode. Giving up TV for that period broke the cycle. I realized that I could get along just fine without it. After the three weeks were through, I realized I didn’t want to go back to the way it was before. I didn’t watch any TV at all for the next six years (except for “The Simpsons” and “Days of Our Lives” :o). It got to the point where I really couldn’t watch TV. If ever I sat down to watch something at a friend’s house, I would start getting antsy after 5 minutes of sitting there. I felt myself getting dumber just watching those shows.

Unfortunately, I have since gotten back into “the habit”. I think it would be a good thing to give up again. Of course, now I’m married, so it would really have to be a mutual decision between my wife and me. It may take some time to convince her. Maybe I’ll wait until after this last season of LOST. :o
 
Quitting TV? Great idea. As has been pointed out - it leaves more time for prayer and meditation.

I have learned something. If you don’t have a TV set, people try to give you one of theirs. People come to visit me and ask, where is your television? I don’t have one. Oh - we have one in the basement. The kids almost never use it. You can have it. LOL
 
We regularly give up “screens” for Lent. I don’t watch a lot of TV, but that also includes internet surfing and video games. I’ve found from our experience that the best way to cut off or limit TV is by scheduling the time you are allowed to watch. It’s easier to never turn the TV on than it is to turn it off!

So for example, don’t click the TV on in the am to “just check the weather” because then you’ll suddenly find that it is 10am and no homeschool has been started! Get your weather from an all-news radio station (or better yet see if there is a service you can call to check the weather).

Don’t turn on the TV to watch “just one show” during your lunch break or the break will drag on till dinner time! Use lunch as a time to introduce your children to different styles of music. Play jazz, classical, or bluegrass and find all new favorites.

Read aloud in the evenings instead of watching TV. If you need some time to do chores, have your oldest read or play books on tape (CDs). You can often find children’s books or classics read with different voices and sound effects. My kids also love to listen to the “Adventures in Odyssey” radio shows.

I also found that the less TV we watched, the less we liked it. After a few years of this we mostly watch news, sports, and old movies (like Turner Classics). The kids do watch a few cartoons, but we are none of us hooked to shows that we feel we “must watch”.

Full disclosure: I did not own a TV when my husband and I met and we have only had 1 TV our entired 20 years of married life.
 
matlori said:
A couple years ago I did give up tv for lent. It was great! I only watch one show in the morning, but when hubby gets home the tv is turned on and I find myself sitting there staring into the screen watching things I hve no interest in. Such a waist of time!
I think I would like to give it up for lent again. I also would like to more picky about what I waste my time on after that. I shouldnt need help on this, but I do. I need a guide on how to watch tv that does not go against the church. I watch realy bad moves and soaps. I must get away from those.
Click to expand...
If your husband turns on the TV to watch news, then make sure it gets turned off when you sit down to dinner. Two good rules for the TV are that 1) it gets turned off when you leave the room (that is, don’t just leave it on all the time–watch the show or the news then turn it off) and 2) never watch TV while you are eating a meal.

I can tell you that any soap is probably not something you want to watch. Ditto most R-rated movies. If the plot revolves around pre-marital sex, sensless murder, or adultery you probably don’t need to watch it!
 
The book is called CHOOSING BEAUTY - a 30 day spiritual makeover for women - by Gina Loehr
I am reading it with some other ladies in my church.
the lent that I did this was my first lent with the catholic church, I asked God what I could give up for him. The TV flashed before my eyes, “oh great!” It was a wonderful time for me and god to get to know ech other better.
Why a year this time? November 2008 I lost a baby 16 weeks into the pregnancy, it was a terrable time for me and our family. I feel terrable about this, but I have never in my life been so Pi$$ed at God. I finaly “forgave” him, and eventualy realized it was not his fault I was in pain. He then decided to give me the honor of growning another of his children. I am 20 weeks now. A year I was away from him, A YEAR! I know I do not have to, but I need to give him that time back.
As for the kids supporting me in this, they only watch one kid movie a day. And I would never ask them to give TV up, same with my husband, it has to be his choice, not mine. So it will be hard for me. His idea of supporting me is moving the tv into the only corner that I cant see it from the kitchen! LOL!
 
Personally, I lived without television for the majority of my life. The last 2 years, living in the City, I have set up a DTV converter, and get reception for approx. 10-12 local channels. I can tell you, I haven’t found much on television regularly broadcast thats worth mentioning, and I find sitting in front of the thing, flipping the channels over-and-over again a complete waste of time.
Sure, there are some decent tv shows out there, PBS is OK, local news/weather, and a very few “prime time” shows can be entertaining. The little woman and I schedule our tv watching around programs that we enjoy. Otherwise, the tv is not on.
Another helpful aspect of television watching is streaming internet programs(i.e. Netflicks, webbies, etc.) to your television, which is the majority of our “tv” watching. Picking and choosing programs without commercial programming is the way to go in my book.👍
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top