The Parent Perspective -
April 2009

The Parent Perspective is a monthly feature where parents tell us how their families navigate today’s media-saturated environment.

This month’s Parent Perspective comes from Monera in Cambridge, MA, whose family does not have a TV. Read how she navigates media use with her family.

I am not opposed to television in principle, but neither my husband nor I grew up with TV as a central focus in our daily lives. We moved to the U.S. from the U.K. in 2000. In response to our question about how to assimilate into American culture, our first landlord gave us a small TV and recommended that we watch Meet the Press, The Simpsons, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. We did watch the TV a few times, and then we just forgot it was there—except when it got really dusty!

When our son was born, we moved to a new apartment, and the little unwatched TV did not make the move. Our now six-year-old son and two-year-old daughter are growing up without a TV in their home. They know nothing else. And although my son has a few DVDs, he seldom asks to watch them. He once had bad nightmares after a movie, so now when he wants to watch a new one, we always join him.

In addition to DVDs, we do have computers in the house. My husband and I have outlined computer use for our son based partly on guidance from organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and largely on what seems to make sense for our family. Specifically, we allow our son to use the computer for 30 minutes each day. He logs on to the family computer with his own username and password and is limited to websites and video games that my husband has pre-selected. In addition, he knows that if he goes to a friend’s house to watch a movie, the time counts toward his daily allotment of media use (for example, a two-hour movie uses up his media time for four days). I know this may sound rigid, but it has worked so far with our family

I obviously recognize the ubiquity of media in contemporary society. In fact, even though we don’t have a TV in our house, my son can still recite detailed accounts of children’s TV characters and recognizes media-related merchandise. I hope that when my son matures, he will have developed self-regulation to media exposure so that he can moderate his intake even when he has open, unsupervised access.

If you'd like to share your own experiences or suggestions in a Parent Perspective, email us at cmch@childrens.harvard.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!