I was reading the comments to a Carolyn Hax advice column that involved an elderly woman who watched tv all the time. A number of comments devolved into individual television habits, and a few people wondered whether a person who didn’t watch much tv most of their lives would increase that substantially as he or she got older.
Growing up, I don’t remember watching a ton of television. We had cable from the time I was little and I remember watching Saturday morning cartoons and some MTV and sitcoms at night and Jeopardy and such, but we weren’t a family that always had the tv on. Maybe it’s because we’re a family of readers; I don’t know.
Interestingly, though, we’ve all increased our tv consumption. I know I have the tv on a LOT. In large part, it’s because I live by myself and I don’t have a good stereo. I should get a speaker for my iPod, I know, but I do wind up listening to iTunes a bit. I’m usually not totally focused on the tv; most of the time, I’m also reading the paper or playing on the computer or something. (For example, right now, I’m watching Community.) But the tv is on a LOT.
Same with my sister’s place. They don’t always have the tv on; amusingly enough, sometimes my 3-year-old niece will turn it off because she has other things to do. (So much for the concept of all kids being automatically entranced by tv.) But the tv is on a fair amount.
AND at my parents’ house. They usually have on MSNBC or the local news or, like me, baseball. I guess we watched the news a bit when I was little, but certainly not this much.
I wonder if part of it is because of the open floor plan so popular in newer homes. The family room and the tv at my parents’ house is right next to the kitchen table. My dad sits at the table, on his computer, working, while the tv is on. I’ve had dinner there with the tv on. Not a lot–they still turn off the tv for meals most of the time. But it has happened. Though in fairness, I believe this was the Christmas that we were snowed in. After so many days of not leaving the house, you don’t really have much to say to each other.
I still read a lot. For all the screeds about tv being the Idiot Box (and dude, there is a LOT of that in Roald Dahl books), I’m not sure how true that is. Does it keep me from exercising? No, that’s just my laziness. Is having the tv on a lot a bad thing? Well, it’s probably not a good thing. But honestly, increasing use of this computer is probably worse.