Dumping The Tv?

[Brother Adam]

Please pick the answers closet to your situation. I know I cannot cover every scenario in the poll. I know many home school and Christian families without a tv in their home anywhere and they are happy, fulfilled families who do not feel like they are missing anything, but feel like they have gained a tremendous amount by getting rid of their tvs. They do not seem to know less than other people about current events or the world.

I have been thinking about getting rid of our tv for years, however, we do love movies. We have no cable, sat, or even an antenna. We can stream movies and tv shows from netflix and hulu, and we have a blu-ray player. I still feel like we turn to the tv too much. If we got rid of it altogether I could see still having movie nights, but at our parish, and inviting anyone else who wanted to come to join us. I also know we would spend a lot less.

I also love the idea of radio theater with the family. I know it is totally out of vogue, but we have been listening to the Chronicles of Narnia on CD (you can get the whole thing from Focus on the Family, dramatized for just $20).

I know there would be real withdraws at first, but I feel like after we came out of the withdraws we would be a lot better off for it. We would have to turn to activities as a family and books for entertainment, without totally being out of the loop on movies we want to see either.

Has anyone here ever purged their homes of a tv before? How did it turn out? Was it liberating or horrible? Did you end up rebuying a tv?

[homeschoolmom]

I couldn't quite find our answer among your choices on the first question: We have cable, but only so we can get the most basic "regular" chanels. (We are too far out to use an antenna)... So, while we have cable, we don't have a lot of channels. Our tv is on a lot, though. But mostly for watching dvds.

[Hinter dem Horizont]

I have movie nights a few times a month. Other than that I rarely use the TV even though we do have digital cable with lots of channels. I prefer movies and books. When I was younger I watched TV in my home all the time and played video games. Not anymore. I mainly watch religious things and movies. For my vocation information I rely on the internet and I like religious music as well.

[Sarah147]

Most of the time I use it for background sound. It helps when you feel lonely at times, for us single people. I also enjoy hearing EWTN, and lately I enjoy Hallmark Christmas movies; it's been giving me a lift. Other than that, I'll look at the news, Food Channel, Home & Garden, History, Discovery, etc.

Edited December 18, 2010 by JoyfulLife

[Tony]

I'm too much of a sports nut to go without tv. It's about 99% of what I watch

[Brother Adam]

One of the priests I know is a huge sports fan as well, but he does not have a tv. He goes to the local country club or other places where the games are on. As a priest he invariably ends up hearing confessions too, but never during the most important parts of the game.

[TeresaBenedicta]

When I was at school, I [i]never[/i] watched television. And I never missed a thing.

My parents have the tv on pretty much from the time they get off work until they go to bed. I'm not much better- I'm pretty much on my computer from the time I get off work until a bit before I go to bed (I usually read some and then pray Night Prayer before bed).

[Teen_Catholic]

My family got rid of our tv a couple months ago. My parents didn't want it anymore because they don't like the idea of being entertained by electronics all day and because of commercials. We do watch Netflix on the internet, though.

[goldenchild17]

cable and its on quite a lot though I don't often actually focus all my attention on what's on. Usually its just on while I'm doing something else.

[Semper Catholic]

Not a sports fan I take it?

[SaintOfVirtue]

We really only use our TV for news and occasionally for movies via netflix. We pulled the plug for lent one year and decided we could definitely live without it. However we decided it was necessary at least for news, in order to stay informed.

[MissScripture]

We have an antenna but mainly use netflix...and our situation is a little odd, becuase our TV is ALSO our desktop computer monitor, so either the computer or the TV is almost ALWAYS on, but if it's on the computer it's either netflix or Catholic radio. Either way, I mainly have it on, because I need noise when I'm in my apartment alone or I start hearing every creak and get really nervous.

[kafka]

I got rid of my t.v. a couple years ago but I live alone. Went through withdrawal for about a week or two, but from a spiritual standpoint it yielded a lot of fruit.

But I was in the habit of having it on a lot. Some people simply dont have it on and control it much better so it wouldnt be necessary. Everyone is different.

[CatherineM]

We have it on when we are home, mostly as background noise because our condo is the first one past the entrance, and we'd hear lots of door closing and stairway noise otherwise.

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='Semper Catholic' timestamp='1292638457' post='2193266']
Not a sports fan I take it?
[/quote]

Obsessive fan, no. Do I enjoy any sports? Yes, pro and college football, hockey, and baseball. We do not watch tv on sports now, but I do not feel like I am missing anything. I listen on the radio or watch games with others at our church, or go to a friends house.