When Danielle Bean did her post last week about children and TV, there were some people who said that they didn’t even own a set. Some people were critical of these people and felt that children needed exposure to things like TV so that they don’t go off the deep end in TV viewing when they are older (or something like that).

My kids watch some TV, and I’m happy to have the chance to blog while they do it. But I see no problem with no-TV homes, either. I really don’t feel that TV is so important in our modern lives that the lack thereof will cause permanent developmental damage in our children, nor do I think that no-TV will result in TV OD in a newly independent adult. I have a curry-free home. I’m not overly concerned that my sons will seek wives from India to overcompensate for what I failed to provide them as children.

But one thing I know for sure is this: children who have no TV in the house would not tune into Disney and see hard-core porn instead. I would be devastated if this happened to my kids, and, whether my husband liked it or not, would never, ever subscribe to cable or satellite TV as long as I had children living at home. When one of my children “accidentally” hits another child, I sometimes detect a defensive attitude in the offender who says, “I said I was sorry.” I often say, “Sorry doesn’t take the pain away. You must be more careful and more aware of others around you.” No apology by the cable company can take away these images burned in a little child’s mind. I hope that every home affected by this had a parent right there able to turn the channel quickly. I know that I am often in the next room when my children are watching their “safe” programming. I may have to rethink how comfortable I am with that arrangement.