Says the girl with three remotes...
I'm really happy right with myself right now.
I watch far too much television.
It is my firm belief that most of what is wrong with today's youth is the omnipotence of the idiot box.
Wow... put those thoughts all together and we've got the theme of tonights crazy, long and complicated entry.
I've been doing a statistics project with my seventh grade math kids where they have to survey their classmates to gather data, and then find the mean, median, mode and range. Part of the assignment was to independently generate a question. At least one student in each of my classes chose to ask their classmates how many televisions they had in their homes.
I was shocked by the results of these surveys. My students have, on average, 3.5 televisions per household. (Keep in mind, 70% of these kids have their breakfasts and lunches paid for by our tax dollars, and most live in apartments.)
One of the things I've learned about my students this year:
They get home from school, and they watch TV.
They eat dinner, and they watch TV.
They get ready for bed, and they watch TV.
Therein lies the tragedy. I firmly believe that television is responsible for thwarting intellectual growth of our youth. I consider myself the perfect example. I honestly feel as though far too much of my life has evaporated as I cast aside the notion of autonomous contemplation and, for hours, allowed my mind succumb to whatever might be playing on tv that day.
The same thing is happening to our kids. They have no desire, no curiosity, no encouragement for independent thought. They seek only entertainment. They seek neither inspiration nor knowledge. It truly makes me sad.
In seeing this disheartening trend in our youth, it made me realize how much of my own life I have simply wasted in the same manner. I don't want to go so far as to say I am trying to set a limit for myself, but I am. I’m thinking no more than 10 hours per week... I know that seems like a lot, but I once watched 10 hours a DAY....) It's almost like an addiction. Tonight, I'm going to choose not to warp my brain. Tonight, I choose not to watch mindless sitcom reruns.
Instead, tonight, I choose to rant about the television instead of watching it.
And THAT is why I am so pleased with myself. I chose not to watch tv night, and instead, make this heartfelt, albeit slightly inebriated, supplement to my diary.
I just wish I could get my kids to want to make that choice as well...
Except for that whole inebriated thing.
I watch far too much television.
It is my firm belief that most of what is wrong with today's youth is the omnipotence of the idiot box.
Wow... put those thoughts all together and we've got the theme of tonights crazy, long and complicated entry.
I've been doing a statistics project with my seventh grade math kids where they have to survey their classmates to gather data, and then find the mean, median, mode and range. Part of the assignment was to independently generate a question. At least one student in each of my classes chose to ask their classmates how many televisions they had in their homes.
I was shocked by the results of these surveys. My students have, on average, 3.5 televisions per household. (Keep in mind, 70% of these kids have their breakfasts and lunches paid for by our tax dollars, and most live in apartments.)
One of the things I've learned about my students this year:
They get home from school, and they watch TV.
They eat dinner, and they watch TV.
They get ready for bed, and they watch TV.
Therein lies the tragedy. I firmly believe that television is responsible for thwarting intellectual growth of our youth. I consider myself the perfect example. I honestly feel as though far too much of my life has evaporated as I cast aside the notion of autonomous contemplation and, for hours, allowed my mind succumb to whatever might be playing on tv that day.
The same thing is happening to our kids. They have no desire, no curiosity, no encouragement for independent thought. They seek only entertainment. They seek neither inspiration nor knowledge. It truly makes me sad.
In seeing this disheartening trend in our youth, it made me realize how much of my own life I have simply wasted in the same manner. I don't want to go so far as to say I am trying to set a limit for myself, but I am. I’m thinking no more than 10 hours per week... I know that seems like a lot, but I once watched 10 hours a DAY....) It's almost like an addiction. Tonight, I'm going to choose not to warp my brain. Tonight, I choose not to watch mindless sitcom reruns.
Instead, tonight, I choose to rant about the television instead of watching it.
And THAT is why I am so pleased with myself. I chose not to watch tv night, and instead, make this heartfelt, albeit slightly inebriated, supplement to my diary.
I just wish I could get my kids to want to make that choice as well...
Except for that whole inebriated thing.
posted by Flipside at 9:21 PM
1 Comments:
Then i got DVR. Now i have four remotes.
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