No TV households

Discussion in 'Home Schooling' started by Aurangzeb, Jan 3, 2023.

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  1. Aurangzeb

    Aurangzeb New Member

    Let's clarify a little. What we mean by TV nowadays is video content which has degrees of harmfulness for a developing mind, and I'd argue for a mature mind too.

    For example, watching Madani Channel and Noor TV et al will no doubt have very good, beneficial content but there is still harm in that it may inculcate a psychological attachment to the screen rather than the content being presented. Not to mention prolonged static object viewing is perhaps not so good for the eyes and body.

    Then we move to more harmful content, the popular marketed content brought to you by Disney, Pixar etc. Some of this content will be consumed by your child regardless of whether yout Home contains a TV or not. That might be from friends, other school children, their teachers, their parents and the list goes on. I certainly avoid this content as much as possible and don't let my child watch it all save for some carefully selected extracts to provide context of certain cultures and commentary. Mainly for critique.

    Finally we have the most harmful ordinarily available content, the things you don't need a TV to access, nor any paid subscription or a TV licence. That is, independently produced largely unaudited content also known social media content. This in my experience is the biggest thing we should forbid for all save for the strongest of us who may view it only to warn of its dangers or refute where necessary or take positive action against it.

    Content as simple as gaming live Streams with numerous rude, harsh jokes and profane statements mixed in with light hearted banter. Vlogs where Muslims encourage other Muslims in flagrant violations of the sharia. Vlogs by ex Muslims and anti thiests.

    In the time in which we live, the smartphone is the thing to avoid not the TV. At least with the TV you can openly see what someone else is watching, but a smartphone is portable and the screen is small and the algorithms are powerful tools leading to destruction. Its unlikely that a child will be groomed through a TV.

    Nevertheless I'd say, keep the TV out of your home and keep your smartphones off especially in the home. Do not give them to children. For those of you who have children, you know how quickly a child can get past any security you have in place.

    Make no mistake, we are on a war footing in these times. Us parents can be lazy and negligent. Spend more time with your children teaching them, playing with them, have them help you with your work, be that housework or paid work. It's tough for sure but great things usually come from great efforts.
     
    Aqdas likes this.
  2. Khanah

    Khanah Veteran

  3. Khanah

    Khanah Veteran

    It's important to think of the reasons for avoiding tv in order to convince others too. And it's not just about picking up bad characteristics e.g. Behaving badly with parents due to watching teenagers do the same on TV shows.

    Think about cartoons such as the simpsons, family guy, etc. These cartoons have blasphemous jokes regularly- and yet they're watched regularly by 'Muslims' too who may laugh etc. In fact, I would go so far as to say I grew up with more people who watched these shows than those who didn't.

    It's not just family guy by the way- I recall children's shows that had such jokes in them, even Disney! It won't be an excuse to say 'I don't let my kids watch family guy, I let them watch x'.

    Think about the blasphemy in bollywood songs, often played at weddings with imams present! I've attended such functions in the past myself.

    TV and now the Internet is the medium through which apostasy is brought to the masses. If you want to save your own imaan and the imaan of your family, get rid of it ASAP.
     
    Ali_Bash likes this.
  4. Unbeknown

    Unbeknown Senior Moderator

  5. Khanah

    Khanah Veteran

  6. AbdulMalik027

    AbdulMalik027 New Member

    People who watch TV shows, besides the news and educational things (for when there is an actual need), are watching those Tv shows for entertainment because they are bored with their own lives or need a form of escapism from the world. People don't go outside much anymore; many have neglected walking together, playing together, etc... it's harder for women too since its not like back home where there are women only areas where women can chit chat and have fun together in parks and stuff (obviously with the permission of their male mahrams to go out).
     
  7. Khanah

    Khanah Veteran

    Do you think the desire to circumvent the no apps/no TV rule is due to the influence of other children (largely) or something else?

    I feel it would be easier to enforce if the kids were being home schooled for example- lack of peer pressure and feeling left out at school etc. Looking back at my own school experience, I forget just how tough it was not having some of the things others did e.g. PlayStation. Must be waaaay tougher now since social media is much more ubiquitous and seemingly 'necessary'.
     
  8. Surati

    Surati Well-Known Member

    I think I might have to download this app to block my kids from the iPad and phone. My teens want to be on Snapchat to chat to friends. I successfully (or so I think) kept them away from it but I honestly don’t know how much longer I can prevent them from being on social media as they grow up.

    I found out the other day one of them was on Tiktok (apparently his cousin created an account for him) and managed to get him off it.

    Uphill battle.
     
  9. Khanah

    Khanah Veteran

    How do you TV free brothers at home spend time/how do your kids spend time? What is it that they do as an alternative to TV?

    You're right about the Internet issues- YouTube and TV is no different. If they can access one, it circumvents the ban on the other.
     
  10. sherkhan

    sherkhan Veteran

    TV free home without being mobile-free or internet-free home defeats the objective. These days everything that can be consumed on TV can be consumed through mobile/laptop/computer/game-console. If you have any of the "other" devices, then you haven't weaned your family away from contents that you are looking to avoid. Smashing TV sets is not the final solution.

    I haven't had TV at my home for last 12 years, and, believe me, kids haven't turned out any better. Kids don't have any game console or access to laptop (other than for school work) or any smartphone; yet they can be sneaky enough to steal some time from parent's phone when no one is looking.

    To be completely effective, you need to be nearly off-grid. Another way is to use fool-proof Parental Control applications to block, restrict and monitor usage. I have found Classroom Spy a very powerful tool to control usage; but sometimes it too can be defeated by kids who can "google" an antidote to any restriction.

    Instead of negative reinforcements like controls/restrictions (which can always be circumvented), what might work better is positive buy-in, i.e. genuinely convincing family about the ills of TV/internet/mobile, for them to abandon these voluntarily.
     
    Aqdas likes this.
  11. Hanafi Sunni

    Hanafi Sunni Well-Known Member

    So many families have purchased TV's for Islamic channels.

    How many actually stick to only using their TV's for those channels?

    If only we could go back to our good old ways...
    Big nights instead of sitting in front of TV watching mehfils, if only we could all go to our masajid and sit with our local Ulama.

    Personally TV channels (islamic) though permitted by some Ulama, has done more harm than good to us.

    Allah knows best.
     
  12. Hanafi Sunni

    Hanafi Sunni Well-Known Member

    Yes
    TV free home is a peaceful home.
    The best way to convince members is by experience. They should experience the benefits themselves. TV is one of the many reasons why Muslims today are lazy to pray Salah (my personal opinion). Parents are back from work tired, they eat and just sit on TV. People would rather miss salāh than miss their favorite drama show.

    TV is simply a waste of time. One might argue that our phones are technically a "TV" in our hand. From my personal experience, having capped internet helps alot. Knowing that you only have a certain limited allowance to use automatically reduces your internet and phone usage.

    Convince your family, to have a 'no TV month', this should already be done in ramadaan. And 30 days will automatically make them realize what a waste TV is and that it's not worth your time.

    Also know everything on TV (drama, TV series etc is Fake). It will never help you in your life in any way. Only documentaries are quiet beneficial , of which there are independent websites for educational documentaries only.

    Cost + benefit analysis will help alot. You and your family will experience and have sukoon in your life without a TV.
     
  13. Khanah

    Khanah Veteran

    I'm somewhat concerned on the effect that TV and Internet use has on children's development- even adults actually.

    See an interesting article on this here:

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/

    The author has written a book called the shallows where he develops on this- I would highly recommend.

    I'm more inclined to try and have a complete TV free household (not sure I can get buy in from the other family members, however- feel like I might get kicked out instead of the TV lol). Has anyone had any experience in attempting this?
     
  14. Surati

    Surati Well-Known Member

    People also watch the news or documentaries on TV. Just watch beneficial things on there then switch off.

    Generally, for kids trying to inculcate a reading culture from a very young age helps. You can check out the Oxford Owl website to have an idea of which book level your kid should be reading at what age. In UK schools, book Bands are used to indicate the reading level of each book. You can ask your kid’s school at which band they are reading at at try to encourage reading at that band at home.

    Booktrust also has recommendations from the age of 0-12+ (You might have to check the content of the book yourself first).

    I was once browsing channels that my kid could potentially watch: (not endorsing these channels but this is some of the things I found. You will have to go through the videos yourself to see if they are suitable for your kid)
    • National Geography Kids
    • Ted-Ed - for older kids. got lots on there including history, poetry. Maybe curate which videos they will watch. Also has videos on sex ed.
    • Crashcourse kids - Earth Science, Physical Science, Biology, Geography, Engineering, and Astronomy
    • Homeschool pop American. Aimed at the younger age bracket of KS2, although there is some useful content for 10-11 year olds. Covering topics from maths to history to geography to biology and even social studies.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2022
    Khanah and Aqdas like this.
  15. Khanah

    Khanah Veteran

    Thought I would start a thread on households without a TV as this would run well in conjunction with the homeschooling thread, in my opinion.

    Feel free to share thoughts/experiences on the following:

    - Convincing your spouse to raise your children in a TV free household
    - If you live in a joint family system i.e. with parents, convincing them to let go of the TV
    - Is it fully necessary to get rid of the TV if you're just watching Islamic channels?
    - Kids- what alternative activities would you provide them in order to substitute the time they would have spent on TV?
    - Is there ever a time you would allow them access to TV considering they're growing up in a world with ready access to the internet/youtube etc?
     

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