Comments on: DVR is Changing the Family Dynamic

By: Thomas

Thomas — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 06:07:41 +0000

I would like to directly address Rachel. Technology is improving speed, which creates more time, which leads to more communication (typically not face to face), but without cell phones or facebook how often do you think you would talk to old high school friends who now live in Utah or somewhere far away? DVR is designed so you can pause it and fast-forward, etc. So if you really want to watch the commercials, just watch them, or if what you want is time to stir then pause it. And if you can’t go 3 minutes without your TV show to stir then are you any better then being obsessed with catching the TV show? And to there is no downtime? DVR creates movable down time. You would be locked into 3 3 minute windows where as with DVR you have 9 minutes when ever you want to accomplish the same task.
And obsessing with TV shows is part of being a child. Everyone has the shows they never miss, be it CNN, The Daily Show, The Office, Family Guy etc. While you say this is unhealthy for a child lets look at older situations for example, Sherlock Holmes which was in its day a column in the paper. People would obsessively read it to stay in touch (people who try and keep up with one-time viewing TV, No DVR) or those who would read it when they had time (People who record TV and watch it when they have free time, DVR).
And you seem to think your kids don’t try and keep up which is strange because Childhood is all about coming to grips with your self by looking at trends and then understanding what is really important to them in life.

Summary: Rachel, don’t talk about something you don’t know. Technology is creating newer ways of communicating faster.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:49:56 +0000

I don’t like DVR, but not because it eliminates conflict. I haven’t encountered conflict over the television (yet?). My issues with DVR are: (1) There are no commercials. You would think my busy, working mom life would benefit from a more efficient way to watch tv shows. You would think I’d be thrilled not to have to watch boring advertisements and to have my show interrupted. But I want commercials. Every new piece of technology and toy that comes out seems to take away the down time — the time we have to TALK to people. We email. We text. We play video games. We Facebook. We no longer TALK to people, not even our own kids. While certainly television was never an interactive activity, there were commercials. And, during commercials, we’d talk about the show or life or what we need to do tomorrow. (2) There is no downtime. DVR also takes away the short intermissions that allow me to stir the sauce, change the load of laundry, pay a bill and fill out the field trip permission form. My life requires multi-tasking. I don’t have time to JUST watch TV and without commercials, I can’t watch TV. Oh — and, (3) I do not think we should be teaching our kids to be so obsessed with a tv show that we cannot stand to miss it. We should be able to miss a tv show, catch it next time and move on with our lives. I don’t have DVR. I don’t plan to get it. My kids haven’t asked for it either.

By: Beth Segal

Beth Segal — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:32:44 +0000

I say have all the DVR you want. There is more than enough opportunities to practice compromise and conflict resolution in day-to-day family life without adding TV trauma to the mix. One show a day, whatever you want
(within the confines of moral sanity), when homework is done, thanks to the magic of modern technology.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:14:03 +0000

I’d just like to point out that the DVR I have only allows you to record 2 shows at a time, so there is definitely still potential conflict. Also, there are still many other opportunities to learn compromising skills, such as seats in the car and the last cookie in the box…