Think out of the box
It may seem odd for an idle parent to recommend banning telly. “Free baby-sitting” is how the TV is often described by harried parents. You can sit the little ones in front of the screen and let them gape for an hour or two while you get on with those important jobs, such as cleaning the kitchen, or reading your Evelyn Waugh novel, or leafing through the seed catalogue.
Another defence of the television is that it offers a kind of family bonding opportunity. And I suppose it’s true that we’ve enjoyed watching Doctor Who or Robin Hood together.
Despite these undoubted advantages, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is best to unplug. Yes, disconnect from the state-funded image stream (the BBC) and from the commercial ad-filled pap providers (Sky TV). In the first case, we spend £150 a year or thereabouts in order to get EastEnders and CBeebies, neither of which are as remotely fulfilling as being read an Edward Lear poem, or a tale from The Arabian Nights, as far as the child goes. Television is an electric story-teller and we should be telling the stories ourselves.
In the case of Sky TV, why pay upwards of £30 a month just to get more rubbish interspersed with ads from usurious money-lenders and the manufacturers of plastic toys? Add to this the cost of the set itself – and I understand that people are now spending in the region of £2,000 for giant telescreens – and it all starts to add up.
By its technique of constant repetition, TV will also condition in your children a love of the wonders of the consumer economy. This can be costly, too. It makes them want stuff. The whole point of advertising is to create wants and small children are easily persuaded. I remember one child coming into the kitchen and asking for some awful plastic thing he’d seen advertised. When we said no, he retorted, tragically: “It’s only £19.99!” Ban the telly and you will also be happily in accord with lofty ethical principles. “The selling of lifestyles to children,” said the Archbishop of Canterbury this week, “creates a culture of material competitiveness and promotes acquisitive individualism at the expense of the principles of community and co-operation.” I am constantly trying to create an anti-consumerist child: they are so much cheaper. They may even become community minded and coperative, ie, do more housework around the home.
And anyway, your child need not be deprived of the wonders of modern life. Instead of the telly, watch videos or DVDs. This means you can still dump the children in front of the screen while you read Vile Bodies, but you know they won’t receive the commercial propaganda.
We have an old, very small set for watching videos and a computer for watching DVDs. The tapes and DVDs themselves can be picked up for almost nothing in charity shops or rented from the local library – a fantastic resource, by the way.
Then it is in with quality art such as Tom and Jerry, The Simpsons, Shrek and Zoolander, and out with the forced jollity of Balamory and the annoying squeaky American voices of Dora the Explorer and the ridiculous Boots. Ah, bliss!
I admit we have had to suffer the deprivation of not being able to watch Doctor Who on Saturday nights. So I have bought the Doctor Who DVDs, which we can watch when we like.
We were also a bit sad, as adults, to have missed Lark Rise To Candleford. So, instead, we did something far more enriching and enjoyable in the evenings: we read the books.
Add to that the possibilities of YouTube, which even a neo-Luddite such as myself concedes can be quite wonderful (we watched The Clangers on it the other day) and there really is no excuse for telly at all.
The only problem you face is the enormous wrath of the TV Licensing Authority, whose employees seem to find it impossible to believe that you might voluntarily decide to refuse telly and assume instead that you must be out to defraud the State. Hence their letters become increasingly heavy and threatening in tone.
Sky TV also finds it hard to believe that you want to disconnect from its service. After unplugging, we were pestered for at least two years with calls wondering why on earth we had disconnected and did we know that we could sign up for half price. “We don’t want it!” I was screaming by the end.
Yes, the unplugger must face trials. But it’s worth it.
Although they do become increasingly threatening, you can safely ignore any communications from TVL if you choose. You are under no obligation to respond to their correspondence, or to allow an “inspector” (who are employed by Capita, and on comission) into your home.
You are perfectly entitled to own a television without a licence, as the UK licence is a licence to watch (be it on computer or TV) not to own.
Many people have found that attempting to convince TVL that you do not need a television licence is pointless, as they will assume that a)everyone owns a TV and b)anyone with a TV must be using it to watch television.
More information on when you do, and don’t, require a licence can be found at http://www.televisionlicence.info/
Although they do become increasingly threatening, you can safely ignore any communications from TVL if you choose. You are under no obligation to respond to their correspondence, or to allow an “inspector” (who are employed by Capita, and on comission) into your home.
You are perfectly entitled to own a television without a licence, as the UK licence is a licence to watch (be it on computer or TV) not to own.
Many people have found that attempting to convince TVL that you do not need a television licence is pointless, as they will assume that a)everyone owns a TV and b)anyone with a TV must be using it to watch television.
More information on when you do, and don’t, require a licence can be found at my site.
This post seems very familiar to me.
Has it been published elsewhere?
Well, thanks for that post (TVlicenceinfo)!
I’m already one step ahead of the posse! I live in Ireland and I wouldn’t give the Roman SHYSTERS that run my mother country, one cent, shekel or whatever!
If you want to hear th Mister TV Licence Inspectors adverts currently running on RTE, check Ireland’s National Radio Station here: http://www.rte.ie/
Talk about Chicago Politics!!!
[The whole point of advertising is to create wants and small children are easily persuaded.]
As you quite rightly say, Tom. Big Business today is no different that Big (organised) Religion of the past. It is exactly the same psychology. Its all about sociopathic predatory “adults” preying on the vulnerable – which are, in the main, our children!
Note to parents: Take care of your children. The are the most precious gift you will ever get!
My way of dealing with the TV licence people was to invite them in and then spend the entire time RANTING about the conditioning process that Television Broadcasting is, and the harm that that conditioning process is directly responsible for. I even offered them a ‘fact sheet’… they declined the offer and never returned..
Time is way more valuable when spent WITH children, engaging with these fantastic little people, whose minds, prior to ‘conditioning’ are vast respositories of wisdom and joy.
Marketing people refer to children as ‘evolving consumers’….
Bill Hicks was right on the money with regard to marketing types…
Not for printing: Tom I’m an Irish based journalist, and I’ve been trying to contact you re your work. I haven’t received anything back from the comment I sent trou. Can you email me on moore.oliver@itsligo.ie or ring me on 00 353 65 6842492 please? Ollie
We have four children and no telly, never had one. But we have no specific reason of philosophy for not having a telly, it just seems a waist of time and space.
We do watch DVD’s however (and youTube).
I don’t like adverts for children which is why my son has always watched BBC children’s programs. For convenience we use Virgin’s BBC Iplayer & catchup TV. With that my son can watch e.g. Cartoon Network programs with no adverts. We also get loads of low cost dvd & videos from charity shops and special free offers from newspapers. I don’t want my son to be exposed to adverts for stuff & junk food that is aimed for kids.