No

no because their child would live in a bubble. now if you're asking to monitor what they watch, i'm up for that 1000000%

No way man how would they watch "The Simpsons"

My parents raised my brothers, sisters, and I with hardly any TV interference. There is more to life than TV. I think it should be up to the parents whether their children should watch TV or not. Your child will probably be exposed to TV anyway.

No! Thats ridiculous. There should be rules on how much tv they watch and what they are watching though.

YES! My family didn't have a television for about 5 years of my childhood (about age 6 to age 11). It was maybe the best parenting decision my parents ever made. http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/

I don't believe it would be possible, except in a closed community, such as the Amish. Every store you go into today has TV's just about everywhere, plus they are in every school. The amount of time the TV is on in the household should be limited (includes parents and kids), but no TV at all would not work in the main stream America. Maybe in other countries it is different?

No! If you monitor what they watch it can be very educational and developmental for them. Children should be able to watch television!

It is not about watching TV, it is about knowing how to react. If your kid believes everything on TV, then you should decide what things are too tough for them, but tell them why. After all, they'll face TV sooner or later, and it is better for them to know what they are facing with a responsible person at their side.

i found havin two young children that lettin them watch half an hour before bed settled them and also helped them learn more words and there counting has really come along, i think as long as you montior the tv programmes that they are watching things will be ok,

no, the games console won't work without the TV.

If it was really possible to do such a thing to a large number of families across the nation. A lot of children would not be as bright. The amount of learning programmes spelling, drawing, art, making things. It would be unfair to deprive them of these programmes. Was you raised with no television? Do you think it has made a difference to who you are if you did or didn't? Why would you want to stop the children having an idea of how unstable this world is. They are going to be our age one day. What will they be suggesting about television then, that also if it exists then. We had a television Black and White. The only time we got to watch it was when my father wasn't home. Fortunately my Dad was not home a lot. And if we were watching it and he came home. He would send us to go and study a book. Or make us spell words like constantinople? dictation? I was only six. So I am not sure that they should. My children use to watch a lot of telly. I prefered them indoors than out. and rightfully so.

Kids can learn a lot from TV, parents have to monitor what their children watch.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. Or otherwise, they should at least have one TV free year. TV turns people's minds into jelly. You really have to go without for a year or more and then watch it again to understand this. Face it, they really are scraping the bottom of the barrell these days. Ditch the TV. Learn how to make your own entertainment. Try it.

I would want to make that dependent on the education and language abilities of those parents...

without ScoobyDoo i wouldnt have any critical reasoning skills to catch badguys.

No way! I'm a thirteen year old girl and I have been raised watching tv. I even watched things like the Exorcist (wow that movie was weird) and I turned out to have many, many friends and straight A's all through school. Let them watch TV.

My aunt and uncle raised my cousins without tv and with very strict computer regulation, and two of them are out of the house now and absolutely addicted to tv, video games, and the internet. It's seriously a little scary. And the three that are still living in my aunt's house lie and sneak around to play their friends' games and watch their friends' tvs. For the most part, those three are really good kids and the two adults are good people. They just went crazy when finally given freedom.

Television CAN be very beneficial if handled properly. For instance, Noggin, Sprout, PBS, etc. can teach your children many many things that you may not have time (or patience) to sit down and teach them. However, allowing them to watch "junk" TV (i.e. cartoons [these days], sit coms w/questionable mat'l) can be detrimental. I have found (after 4 kids ages 5,6,7 & 11) that the old shows are still entertaining yet educational. For instance, Little House on the Prairie (among others) teaches kindness, forgiveness, patience and how to handle other people and situations with good manners. And the kids (even the 11 y.o.) like them and are proud to tell you what they have learned. Let your kids watch some and give them the "task" of returning to you and tell you what they have learned. You'd be surprised....

If you mean no television in the home -- I think that's a great idea, my home doesn't have a television, and other than not knowing who the celebrities are, and what the popular shows are -- I don't think I'm missing much. But I don't think you should forbid TV watching -- they will get television in school, at their friends homes, and pretty well everywhere else they turn. I think it would be nice to offer a TV free sanctuary in the home.

If that's what they want to do....

Not necessarily. Parents should raise their children to learn temperance in all things. That is, every thing should be used in moderation. In other words, we don't completely avoid something because others misuse or abuse it. You don't throw out alcohol because there are those who are intemperate. Neither do you do away with sex because there are those who abuse it. When it comes to television, it is good to teach children that it can be used and enjoyed, but to warn them how it can be misused and abused. Television shouldn't be a tyrant in our lives, but one of the ways a thing becomes a tyrant in our lives is when we avoid it out of fear of misuse. The proper use of something is always best.

I would say so.When a was a child I would watch no more than an hour a day maximum.Children need to get out and learn how to get along and interact with others,and get mingle .The television is mostly a diversion from real life.Maybe a timer needs to be installed on the set where it automatically shut off after a period of time.

YES!!!! TV shows lots of filfth and nothing too good. I've been raised with out one and i still don't have one. I'm not missing out on anything. Gives me more time to do things instead of being a couch potato!!!

This is going to seem kind of funny coming from a 19 year old, seeing as I don't have any children. I think that kids can be raised watching television, but it can't be their life. My parents allowed my sister and I to watch television, but it was usually a family thing. Later in my childhood it became even more so. We would have our regular shows, usually some kind of sitcom, but we always watched Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, always trying to see who could answer the most or the fastest. So, I guess all tv doesn't need to be cut out, just some of the awful shows like Spongebob.

No. Rather, only allow 1 hour of entertainment (not including news) TV during the school week. Sit down Sunday night and discuss which hour the kids want to watch. Discuss why they want to watch it and then let them watch that and nothing more.

No. But I think they need to closely monitor what their kids are watching, and limit the amount of time spent in front of the TV.

No television at all seems harsh, but tv access should be controlled and limited. I remember when kids used to play outside...

It's up to you. Personally, I don't think it makes any difference. I don't watch anything on TV except old movies and documentaries. My kids watched TV and tried to stop my ex-wife and I from watching some of the things we liked. About six or seven years ago I was teaching kindergarten. We had a real peacenik couple who didn't want their little boy to know anything about war or weapons or guns. If I said anything to my class about my military career (as an Army band tuba player), they wanted to know why I would mention that (what's with that?) They didn't own a TV. Anyway, one recess, the boy got together with another boy and they had a pistol duel, reminiscent of something seen on Gunsmoke. The school district had a policy that no guns of any kind were allowed (including MAKE BELIEVE guns) and I had to report this to the principal. Both boys were suspended. The parents tried to pin the blame on me but I never mentioned anything like that (I even had to hide my LONE RANGER lunchbox when I was near the boy or his parents... I don't think they ever saw that!) Anyway, regardless of how parents try to regulate what their kids see, they will act like that. Boys always play with guns. They need a chance to do that at home. Otherwise, they'll try to play that way at school and get suspended. Don't be too restrictive with your kids!

No, not in this day and age. TV is good, as long as you make sure they are not watching it constantly, control will teach them good habits for when they are older. also if you were ever to watch tv your kids would scream unfairity with good cause.

I think the less and the more tightly vetted for entertainment, educational value and enjoyability the better. An absolute minimum of commercials because these are among the worst influences children can have. I know when I turned our live TV off and introduced only DVRed, decommercialed tv for our daughter, her grades improved, we started taking meals at a table together again and we enjoyed the pre-recorded tv we all watched together far more. It drove my daughter toward reading and unstructured play for entertainment. Now she would rather play checkers with us or do crafts with us than watch Pokemon. Now she chooses to try new things like learning about fairies and making her own dolls than collect Disney Princesses. I see that as good. Turning off the TV brought my family together and helped my kid do better at school. It's tough to put into practice but it can be done.

There is nothing wrong with television. You could raise your kids on books, but there's alot of smut, crap books out there too. There is as much great educational programing as there is crap. Discovery, The History Channel, PBS, The Nature Channel, National Geographics are all stations that will help put a wrinkle in your child's brain. Limit the amount of time spent in front of the tube and make sure its quality programing. Not having a television set won't suddenly make your child smart. If it just so happens that most of his time is dominated doing something productive, then you're on track. Technology will continue to infiltrate itself into your life anyways. There are responsible ways to deal with it.

yes. television has raised a generation of morons. look at the vast majority of teens today. they're dumb.

Television is very harmful for children. Watch things on Disney Channel for instance, 13 year old girls with slutty outfits and crying over boyfriends... not the right thing for your kids.

No, to do so would be like being in the Taliban and blaming technology for all the evils of the world. If you limit your children to watching the good shows with a little bit of entertainment, and you teach them how to appreciate television, discerning good and bad stuff, they should not have any problems.

It's good if the children don't necessarily like watching TV, but the parents shouldn't forbid the kids from watching TV, ever. I think they should just set a good example and not veg out in front of the TV for hours at a time.

We do. I recommend reading Manufacturing Consent. We have a television, but we use it for watching DVDs.

I think anything done to an extreme can be harmful so I would say no keep things in moderation