Here at the Kotrba house, we have tried to dabble in the world of electronic media as well as the world of non-electronic media. I am proud that Calvin did not know there was network television until he was seven years old. Until then we just had some VHS tapes that he could watch while I was in the shower or on Saturday mornings. Along the way certain temptations arose. Reader Rabbit. What could be wrong with a three year old learning to read using reader rabbit and the "Leap Pad?" Not that much I guess. Except that it is a slippery slope. Now, even more than ten years ago, our children are growing up in the world of the web. We don't even buy software anymore. Mary gets a little computer time every morning: PBSkids or sometimes Webkinz. A few minutes can turn into a couple hours very easily when mom is on the phone or trying to get some work done. She is learning to read, right?
Calvin started having some homework that required web research. His temptations are not video games but our browser history will show links to the subway systems of every major city in the world, and every car dealership and dozens of map quest locations. Computer tutorials ahoy. He loves to pick a topic and delve into it, future researcher, right?
But, he started slithering to the web more and more. I would come down in the morning and he would be one my computer. After school, "I just want to check something. . . " All good stuff. All research. . .
Then came netflix. A couple months ago we got netflix. Both kids can only watch the boob tube (as we used to call it) on the weekend as it is. Now they just have more Saturday morning selection. Bill naively put a couple Disney pre-teen series in the instant view queue. I swear by Saturday afternoon both kids were acting like Disney teens--arguing and talking in one-liners. That was only two hours worth. Now we have to take away a freedom that was given.
Not to mention that Bill and I got sucked into the show Lost. Good grief, there are seven seasons with 25 episodes a season, we are only to season three. After this, I am never starting a series again. Take away my netflix freedom, please! Life is too short--but I kinda need to know if they ever get rescued--I am so ashamed. If you watched it don't you dare tell me. . .
So I am circling back to non-media. But I don't want to be the bad guy. Several times I mention that I am frustrated with the slithering to the dining room computer. What can we do about this, I ask. My mom mentions the Today Show suggests one day a week with no media. I am dreaming about seven days a week but I don't know how to get there without mutiny. I talk to the kids a little more about all the cool things there are to do in the house and yard. Ask them if they want to be more creative or more plugged in. Remind them that the stuff they are doing on the web and what they are watching on the weekends is not bad--it is just what they are NOT doing while they are having screen time. They are not playing together. They are not reading. They are not riding their bikes. They are not playing music. They are not playing a board game. They are not making tea parties for their dolls. They are not continuing the legacy of Playmobil town.
So I ask them the question. What are the summer media rules going to be.
They said it. Calvin and Mary made the rule. No computer during the week. Web and t.v. only on the weekends. My heart leaped. I have done some small thing right that they would take pride in less screen time. Calvin can still type the Household Post on his non-web, non-game computer, and send it on my lap-top daily. Creative writing is okay. And, they can check their email once a day for 15 minutes. Staring now. The dirty little secret is that most of the time we are gone or doing something on the weekends anyway. Tra la la. I win. They win.
This morning Mary didn't even ask about PBSkids.org. She dressed up as a fairy and made a tea party for everyone in her doll world. Huge mess. I am going to pay for this. . . but I think it is a bargain.
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