There is a running argument I have with my wife. The disagreement has become severe on some occasions. Frankly, I want her to 1. leave the kids alone and 2. quit passing on unsupported opinion as absolute fact.
Let me explain:
She has a really bad habit of saying something to the kids and - because she said it - it must, of course, be absolutely true. She'll tell them things like "If you bite your nails, your fingers will fall off." or "If you sit cross-legged, your hips will grow wider and no man will want you." Those are two exact examples, but the list of things she says like this is really very large.
Part of my problem is that she mixes in things that have a very large chance of being true (or at least correct within some limit) and things that are ludicrous.
One large peeve of hers is the "too much TV" thing which in recent years has grown into a "too much video game" or "too much computer game" thing. Every single time she sees the kids relaxing in front of the tv playing halo or playing scrabble online or what have you - she launches into a tirade. Additionally, she's taken to cutting out every article she can find that shows the dangers of video games and forces the kids to read them.
If there were any hint of a problem, I would be the first to say we have to do something - but everything with the kids is going wonderfully. In my wildest dreams I never thought I'd be this lucky. There's a lot of things I could say, but I'll leave it at this: my youngest daughter (age 13) is depressed because she got her first B+ ever. This is pretty typical of the kind of problem we have to deal with. It's not just academics. They're both pretty good swimmers - are actively involved with 2-3 teams throughout the year, and are involved with other activities as well. They're REALLY busy. My oldest (16) has been tutoring a girl a few hours a week and has just gotten her first job as a cashier at a local food store. My youngest is practicing violin and reading all the time. If they get a few hours free here or there and want to spend it playing video games - what's the big deal? They both spend a lot of time reading. The youngest is about half way through DaVinci Code right now. (Not a great book, but it's a pretty good choice for a 13 yo.)
I know the kids are not perfect. It could be they would benefit from other experiences. But we DO go to museums, zoos, aquariums. We DO talk to each other a lot. We DO read together and share experiences and articles. But I just can't stomach nagging them when they get a few minutes free.
That said, I can imagine that there are families where tv is a problem, maybe even a serious problem. In fact, I don't have to imagine - I *KNOW* families where this is a problem. But the problem in each of those cases - at least from from my pov - is not the tv, per se, but the lack of parental involvement. Using the tv as a baby sitter or a proxy parent is destined to cause issues down the road. I don't have a problem with parents who limit their kids' tv time or video game time. In fact, I applaud the fact that they're paying attention. But I don't think that the right answer is that alone. Nothing effectively replaces contact with the kids.
