Am I an evil parent?

[bleedingheart]

it is spring and the weather has actually been quite nice here in da 'burgh...so my husband and I like spending time outside gardening and just enjoying the weather. To further induce my children to come out willingly and enjoy the weather I have a bucket of sidewalk chalk and a nice basketball hoop along with a pool that will be useable in a month...

but yet....the kids will inevitably meander back inside...

SO, I turned on the V-Chip stuff in my TV and I set a password so that to view the TV or watch movies...they need my password.

Bwahahahahhaha!

I win. Even if they go inside, they come back outside because there is no TV!!!!

...so am I evil?

[progmom]

1. you are a wonderful parent!!!

:hug:

[bleedingheart]

8. I think I am about average...but thanks!

my kids are just so mad at me now it isn't funny...and they are desparately trying to figure out what the password is but realize it is futile...

I like TV but geez...that damn box will just suck the time away...

[Left Is Write]

2. Not evil! You're smart!

[noonwitch]

3. No, you're using your powers for good

It's okay to manipulate your kids in good ways.

[purr]

4. I need to do that!!!!

My son is obsessed with video games ie - "mom can i play spongebob?" NO ITS NICE WE'RE GOING OUTSIDE Then when we're outside "mom can i play a game?" sure what type of game? (hoping something like baseball) SPONGEBOB! NOOOOOO go play!!!

Now he's only 4 but he knows more than what most kids his age does, but damn, hes not going to become a couch potato if I have a say in it.

[SKKY]

5. If not wanting your kids to grow up to be fat lazy slags...

...then yes, you're as evil as they come. ;)

[SmokingJacket]

6. No, you are GOOD!

One downside to not letting your kids watch TV: your yard gets some heavy, heavy usage. My flowers get stomped, holes get dug in what's left of my lawn, toys are scattered everywhere...

[bleedingheart]

11. I don't care if they pick flowers...I just want their behinds outside

last summer all I did was go in the house and shut it off and bring them back outside...

It was so nice yesterday...I had about 5 neighborhood kids over in the back and they were playing some basketball game called "around the world"...it was just nice to see kids outside instead of inside.

[liberalitch]

7. say could I get that bucket..... Because I'd sure like to go..

outside right now and write on the sidewalk....
Beats being in the social studies office at Phoebus High School

[bleedingheart]

12. I love chalk! and we have an asphalt driveway...a renewable canvas

this time of year it is actually comfortable to be outside sitting on it because during the summer it will be as hot as a stovetop.

[mermaid]

9. No. You're A Terrific Parent

Kids need to get off their fat, lazy asses, and do something physical...not just sit in front of the goddamn TV like a sloth, sucking down sodas, inhaling potato chips, and playing the fucking X-Box or Game Cube, or PlayStation, or whatever the latest hot new stupid-ass game system is.

Far as I am concerned, they shoulda stopped with Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. Don't need anything more than that!

[davsand]

10. Creative.

Evil sounds so HARSH, somehow...

Thanks for the idea, BTW! Yesterday was not so bad--it was picture day for the softball team. By the time we found all the uniform parts and got out of the house she was READY to run away from me anyway. Luckily most of the other families were in a similar situation so you had a lot of kids just running to let off steam.

Next weekend, however, I am gonna need some kind of a motivator to get her outside. Maybe a lack of TV would do the trick!

CREATIVE--that's the ticket!



Laura

[bleedingheart]

16. yeah it does sound better than evil...

creative parenting...

I relish the omnipotence of parenting...my word is law...bwahahahaha!

[LynneSin]

13. I wish more parents were like you

they let the TV rule their children's lives and then they wonder why their kids are so ruly and spoiled.

I always thought the V-Chip was a good idea because parents need tools in order to help decide what their kids can and cannot watch.

[Az]

14. Society changes

What was activity for our youth is not something the current youth can appreciate. Watching TV is certainly not an activity (its more akin to sleeping). But we have to be careful in this day and age that we do not mistake their activities as wastes of their youth when compared to our youth.

Blocking the TV is not so terrible. There is little of merrit on it these days anyway. But be open minded to what they may see as activity that you may casually dismiss.

[bleedingheart]

15. TV is a social tool today...so I realize that a little isn't bad

just like the "water cooler" talk in an office, the kids at the bus stop will talk about their cartoons...it is quite interesting to see how they discuss this stuff.

In fact, my son was stabbed at school in the chest (with a pencil and it deflected..so it just scratched him) over a heated argument related to some video game character...my son disagreed with the stabber....funny part is my son doesn't own video games because of his Asperger's he perseravates over them more than anything and his therapists have recommended keeping them away from him since he has a very severe reaction to them. (he becomes very moody and hostile even after a short period of play with them)

[Az]

19. With Aspergers its likely he has difficulty telling the difference

He is likely to have difficulty telling the difference between the emotions generated by the game and those generated by real people. So yeah, its probably a good idea to keep him off the games.

In normal cases I would recommend certain games over TV as they keep the mind active. The objection I have to TV is in most cases it places the brain into a near sleep state (beta sleep). The mind is passive and merely lets things happen to it. Unless the show is particularly mentally engaging its just a device to hold people in place while advertisers spray paint your retinas with advertisments.

[bleedingheart]

23. the sad part is that due to his lack of exposure to video games

it makes him less socially adept at handling situations where he does encounter them.

For instance, he was playing a game with his cousin and he took it so seriously that my nephew was trying to calm him down....so now the therapist and I are discussing it to see what to do. There have been other situations like this and we worry that it is creating another type of problem.

I don't want to tell everyone that "XXX has Asperger's and he is not allowed to play games"...cuz that would just isolate him more....

The think I find very fascinating about him is that his body temperature rises when he plays games. He will literally get red faced and his ears will be red when he plays a game...I have never seen that with any other child.

[Az]

27. Perhaps

Guiding him to more intellectual or tactical games. Its the life and death threat and speed that are likely forcing his emotions into high gear. He needs something that engages his mind rather than his adrenal gland. There are many tactical games that are very exciting (I am a fan myself). Consider RPGs or tactical wargames. Both are engaging but do not instigate finger twitching fests.

[Zuni]

17. you are worse than Hitler

kids have a CONSTITUIONAL right to unlimited junk food and trash TV. :P *kidding

No, I actually think more parents should do what you did. It was a very good idea.

[bleedingheart]

18. well he was charming

;-)

...so says his nurse...

[Zuni]

20. and he loved animals

he was a vegetarian because he believed killing animals was wrong. No joke. File that one under "bizarre factoids about manaical mass killers"

[Az]

21. And he was a better painter than Churchhill

He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon! Two Coats! - Franz Liepkin from The Producers.

[tigereye]

22. no you are right

I frequently have to turf my son off the GameCube/PC and make him go outside. He likes to take pix with the digital camera.

My parents used to just turn off the TV and make us go outside. I think they all have been conditioned to want the video/TV kind of stimulation or to think it is more "exciting."

[Zuni]

24. My mom would pull the plug as well

She would make me either read, study or get exercise and play outside with the neighborhood ruffians.

Nowadays I am real thankful for that. If not for her, I could have become a real stick in the mud.

[blue neen]

25. You're not evil.

You're just doing you're job as a parent!

[Rabrrrrrr]

26. The best gift you could ever give them!

Except, perhaps, throwing the TV away entirely. But then they wouldn't be able to be exposed to the movies and few TV shows that are good.

I applaud you!!

I wish more parents would do the same.

And I bet a lot of teachers wish that more parents would do the same.

Nothing beats creative play for children.

:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:

[Ellen Forradalom]

28. No, just clever

good for you.

[belladonna]

29. Not at all, I think it's great

Kids today spend WAY too much time in front of the TV and not enough time outside. They might get mad at you now, but they'll thank you later :hi: