open air orgies

mr. proudhon.

I hate t.v. I was born in 1982, so TV has always been around me. Even though I am not that old, most of my memories were from all of the neighborhood kids playing sports. Tag football, baseball, anything. We could not throw our backpacks inside fast enough so that we could take off on our bikes to go play. Now, my wife and I have been without a TV for almost 2 years now every since our daughter was born and we love it. We rent movies from netflix and watch them after our daughter has gone to bed. We are very stressed though because it seems like we are up against the world. Both my wife and I's families are heavy TV watchers and give us a hard time about not having the TV on when we visit. It is like pulling teeth. Both this subject and not feeding our daughter junk has driven a wedge in our relationships with our families since she was born. I could say so much about the positive aspects of getting rid of TV but there simply isn't enough space. People now are drones who waste hours in front of a TV to watch shows they have to see, only to not remember what the show was about a week later. It's crazy. Instead of watching TV when we are together, my wife, kid, and I role around and play, take stroller rides,read books, and just learn. We walk around the house and teach her what random items are like an iron or the blinds to windows. And what a suprise, at 16 months, she knows so much. Her favorite things in the world are books, as opposed to my cousin's 3 year old who only wants TV show dvd's and carries around doritoes bags stuffing himself. Oh.. I need to stop. If there is anybody reading this that is on the fence, dump the TV, you won't regret it. Thanks..

Mike, age 28, from Georgia

For several years in my early 20's that I lived without TV with the exception of occasional movies. At that time I now realize I was more creative and had a lot of time on my hands to do what I needed to. My attention span could last longer too. Now that I am married and watch TV a lot with my husband in the evenings I am very forgetful and unmotivated. I want to spend time with him but he doesn't want to turn off the television and as long as its on it draws my attention too.

Brandi age 30 from TX

My great-grandfather was born in the 1880's in Southampton in England. He joined the British army as a teenager and was sent to Canada, where he got married and settled down. Unfortunately, WW I broke out the next year and he was called up and returned to Europe. According to family myth, he was gassed at Ypres but returned to the front after a short convalescence.
After the war, he returned to Canada, started a family with his wife who faithfully awaited for his return, and made his living as an egg and chicken farmer and occasional lumberjack and ice seller. He died in 1977 when he was in his 90's.
I remember visiting him during the 1970's when I was a small child. His house stood out in my mind because it was the only home I had been to that didn't have a TV.
The furniture in the living room was arranged in such a way to facilitate conversation and social interaction.
There was a German cuckoo clock on the wall which was the loudest thing inside his house--he lived on a farm very far from any road.
He drank rum or scotch straight or with water and only in moderation.
He always smoked a pipe.
The played the accordion and sang for entertainment. I was told he could play the bagpipes but never saw it myself.
He was the last person in the family who could play ANY musical instrument.
He planted a garden every year and was an organic gardener before the word was invented: he forbade the use of chemical fertilizers etc. I remember spending summer with my grandparents in the garden when I was a kid weeding by hand.
We also could eat the carrots pulled straight from the ground and washed with water from the hand pump in the house.
When he died, he got sick on a Friday and passed away on Sunday at home. Otherwise, he never got ill.
Compared to my grandparents, parents and even my generation (I was born in 1968), it was an enviable life, full, robust , healthy and happy and completely TV-free.

Tony B. Halifax, N.S., Canada

My family watches television constantly. The tv is always on regardless of whether or not anyone is in the room. As an adult, I have come to realize that tv is a time and energy sucker. It sucks the life out of your day. I cancelled cable and rent Netflix when I want to see a movie. I have so much more time, am healthier and get involved in real life.

Laura from N.Greenbush, NY

I was born in 1956. Untill I was about ten we had a black and white tv. I was not allowed to watch very much tv nor did I even want to. I was outside every day playing with my friends. Learning to ride my bike. Making huts in the woods and pretending the back of my fathers truck was a boat. Our little minds were always spinning on new ways to have fun and/or get into trouble. Like stealing my mothers lipstick when we decided it would be a great idea to play war and that bright red would make perfect blood. oh what trouble I was in then lol. Red lipstick does not come out of clothes.
I feel sad for todays kids, they have really missed out. People are too afraid to let their kids play outside, in some places its just not possible. TV has robbed us of our creativity and imaginations. I believe it to be the all time brain drain. Instead of doing we just sit and watch others do. Then we wonder why depression is at an all time high, frighteningly so among children. Exercise, fresh air and sunshine are the cures for that if you ask me.

Carol from Mass. USA

I was born in 1972, so I didn't grow up without TV. But, what do I remember about my childhood? My most vivid memories are of riding my bike around the neighborhood. Trying to fly a kite while riding my bike (didn't work out so well). Jumping little ramps with my bike. Walking down to a small wooded area outside my school. Soccer, basketball, and football practice, and games.

As for TV, I remember the Brady Bunch, Happy Days, and Dukes of Hazard. I don't think I could tell you any of the actual stories on the shows though. I wonder what more I would have done if there were no TV?

David, St. Clair Shores, Michigan

we had a power cut in london a few months ago for 3 days,,after the first day everybody was out knocking on peoples houses an making sure there nabours were ok,,making sure the elderly had war soup an bread after the 2nd day everybody was talking again an said how funny this was if we had no electric we would al be wrapped up in our houses,,but the truth is it would be the tv they would be wrapped up in,,an everybosy caught up with each other an belive it or not when the power came on nobody cam out again,,
what my point here is switching off tv for a week is nuthing we should bann tv completly,,we ae humands for gods sake people what has become of our minds,,weve lost our heads in tv an dont look for anything as to solve this problem but as to turn the channel over????

SO I AM SAYING RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW ,,I ,,,,,ME ,,AM ALIVE AN IM NOT GONNA SIT THERE AN WATHC MY LIFE DIE WATCHING TV,,,,

ENGLAND NORTH LONDON

insted of driving parking walking round the super markets queing then cooking or microwaving the food..
walk into your garden dig out the greens an what els you fancy wash them an cook from home from the garden,,quicker an easier then supermarket shopping,,
get back to our lifes..tasting food trying new foods knowing how to do things like cook an grow food from home.. make must know befor your 10 years of age..
an no food with bright colours an barcodes on it..

talla from south london

I rode horses, read books, played scrabble and bridge.

american quilter.

Hi, I'm Australian, under 40 and grew up without TV except for the odd occasion when my parents hired one in order to watch a BBC series (every couple of years). I roamed the neighbourhood with a gang of other kids aged 5 - 10, we had our own world that didn't include our parents,it was "us against them". Of course until dinner time, when we became civilized again. As we grew older we read - and read and read and read! My children don't have tv and also spend a lot of time reading. They do have the internet, we have two Macs and they use them quite creatively, but they don't spend much time on them. Neither are interested in video games at all. My 8 year old boy will come home from his friends house if the boys start playing x box. He says it's stupid. I love living without tv, my life doesn't revolve around a tv schedule. People tell me they "need" tv for their kids, as if their kids would somehow overwhelm them with their needs if they didn't have the tv babysitting them. I find this very weird, my kids are independant and able to entertain themselves BECAUSE they don't have tv. It's the kids that are used to having their brains addled that become whingey and clingy when it's turned off.
I feel like an outsider in my own generation......

Jennie from Byron Bay, Australia

i'm french. i was born in 1980 and my parents didn't have any tv.
i remenber, after school, i went back at home and had a small snack. i worked for a very short time and then went out : playing with my neighboors, my sister or alone (i created imaginary worlds and friends and stories that i shared next with my real friends).
In the evening, my parents called me to come back home. i helped them to set the table and then we shared a dinner, talking about what we did during the day, at school for me and at work for them. we talked about many things.
sometimes we played to board games or watch pictures or slides (on a slide projector). during the week end, we organised small outdoor games with friends or picnics. i played a lot with my sister, like role playing or football-rugby game (we created that!). i also read a lot (and i still do ot!) particularly before to sleep.
i can remenber people outside in the evening. i grew up in a small village in Provence. i played and ran my bike and walked in the whole village alone (i mean without any adults) because everybody was outside and knew me and my family and could protect me in case...
it was peacefull and exciting (to meet friends and play for hours!).
i don't want to look backward everytime but i really think tv is breaking many things in our societies and avoid people to think by themselves, to communicate all together. and a lot of problems come from tv.
and we could live better without tv. we could live without tv. that's all. sorry for my english. and thanks for the website!

Laure from Rocbaron, France

My grandfather worked when he was a child. He was a farmer. The most fun thing he talks about was using sod to block the creek & then swimming in the pond they made. Life is just a lot different now.

I think you should also have a current-generation archive and split these stories between it. I have friends with kids & no TV, and they read books all the time, the way I did when I was young. But it does take a lot more parenting time. The parents have decided it is worth giving up some of their own hobbies, and also worth having grandparents around a lot.

Joanna from Illinois

I'm still 22 and I'm raised in a family with TV. I'm the only family member who doesn't watch TV for more than 2 hours a week. I don't know how did I become like that since my parents are avid TV watchers. but I'm glad because that way I can do a lot of things I enjoy.

I read a lot, I still do snail mail correspondence and stamps collecting, I learned crochet by myself, cross stitch, creative writing, playing with my own minds - making up silly theories and exploring anything that can be hidden in my own mind, stargazing, watching people quietly from the bench outside, listening to good music they never play on TV... so much fun, and those activities certainly require no TV.

I don't need TV, and my future child will be a lucky one to be raised in a small TV-free family.

Fei Rose from Indonesia

My dad was a headteacher and he also played the fiddle. One of my earliest memories was seeing him play on the Sooty show. It was most probably 1953. I can remember we walked up to Mrs Francis's house, she was a dinner lady at our school to see dad on television as we didn't have one. It was really exciting seeing my dad on television and I can remember lots of balloons falling down as he played at the end of the show. Walking home I asked mam, "Does Mrs Francis earn more than dad?" Mam said, "No. Dad earns more than Mrs Francis." Me, "Why don't we have a television?" I think we eventually got on in 1956.

Mari from Brighton, UK

Like M., I'm under 30. Still I've noticed a marked change from my younger days.

Back when I was a kid, I played basketball with the other kids in the neighborhood or we'd have street hockey in the driveway. I was on a local kids' soccer team and practiced three nights a week. If I didn't want to play, I'd still go outside and sit a little on the porch, reading.

I also loved listening to rebroadcasts of old radio plays, and occasionally some newer fare. I liked "Fibber McGee and Molly", "Inner Sanctum", "The Shadow", tending to appreciate the mysteries and horror stories a little more than the comedies. They also ran then-almost contemporary series like "Nightfall".

All this early reading and listening to radio plays left me with a well-developed visual imagination. Sometimes it was too well developed. I felt faint reading the story of the death of Old Dan the hunting dog in "Where the Red Fern Grows". Very embarrassing for me, since I was reading it out loud in class! But this problem aside, so many boys and girls, even young people in their early twenties, lack an ability to conceive of an image they haven't already seen on television.

It amazes me how much people in fairly safe suburban neighborhoods have convinced themselves that they're fundamentally unsafe and it's better to leave the children outside, stifling on Nintendo and television, rather than "risk" letting them go outside to find their own entertainment. I grew up in the heart of a large city, in a working class neighborhood, and we never had the fear I see in people from gated communities far to the east and north of San Diego.

So while television is part of the problem, we also need to convince fairly well-to-do parents to stop hovering over their children out of fear and possessiveness. For good measure, have them tune into the occasional tinny-sounding old radio play if they can find one: it's good for the mind.

Kevin from San Diego

We are missing the opportunity (not the limitation) of adding our own sound effects, crash sounds, skidding sounds, to the movement of our Dinky and Corgi toys. These are now arbitrarily (and pretty poorly) provided by chips and ratty little speakers.

We are missing the notion of exploration. Of turning the neighbourhood, and especially the vacant lot, into everything from a battleground to an ancient Mayan ruin.

We rarely have a chance today to take a couple of 2 x 4's, other scrap wood, wheels off an old lawn mower, and create a go-kart powered either by a friend who pushes, or by a nearby hill. That's how we learned about tightening bolts and lock nuts and castellted nuts with cotter pins... about essential physics (OUCH!!!). Today, of course, it's all battery powered, complete, again, with dumbass sound effects.

Our generation would be dumbfounded by the "Dollar Store" notion (it would have been the "Nickel Store" back in the late fifties and early sixties. What a gold mine for the imagination and the creation of toys and games.

mike hicks from Ottawa, Canada

Well, we learned how to entertain ourselves without the benefit of a screen to look at!
Kids spent time outdoors, on foot and on bicycles, and outdoor games like Kick the Can and baseball were played almost daily. We took our toys outside and played together, pooling our resources and doubling the fun. People who had front porches spent time on them every evening in good weather. Adults read more than they do today, and the big time entertainment at home was radio. The radio came in an important looking cabinet and was placed in the living room, where the family listened to it together most evenings. Radio gave you the storyline and stimulated your imagination to do the rest. The closest I come to that experience now, is when listening to an audiobook on my car radio. When I reached high school I got my own radio and was very proud of it. It was an ivory-colored Silvertone (Sears) portable - which meant it had a handle on top so you could carry it around, but you still had to plug it in. Record players were important too, and since you could only play one disc at a time, they required a lot of tending. Outside the home, of course, the movies dominated entertainment and most people I knew went every week.

Now I watch TV for awhile most evenings, never in the daytime, and rely mostly on DVD entertainment minus the tedious commercials. But I still turn it OFF when I'm into a good book.

anonymous from Louisville, KY

Girls did embroidery, sewing, mending, played the card game-Authors, poker, Monopoly,
played dolls, house in winter time. In norhtern states during winter and snow bikes were stored in basement where we would attempt to ride around somewhat...it was limited but we missed our bikes. We had Nancy Drew Book Reading Contests over the 3 MONTH SUMMER BREAK JUNE, JULY, AUGUST and did not return to school until after Labor Day in September each year. TV naturally went off about 11pm with Star Spangled Banner playing and a waving American Flag or Military group holding a flag.
You were forced to read more, interact with others including family members and even some good neighbors.

anonymous from anytown

Kids laughter outdoors. I couldnt go a day without hearing ,"Mom, can I go outside" from either myself or friends. Nowadays, I dont EVER hear any of my younger cousins ask to go and play outside and never hear any children playing in my neighborhood. If I do, it is rare. And Im only 24!

M. FROM LAS VEGAS

My parents got TV around 1965, when I just had left for university. I remember from the years of childhood and youth between 1950 and 1965 having been engaged or occupied with this:

Playing outdoors "cowboy and indians" a lot; sledge in winter for many hours without interruption (close to get frozen).
Jumping from one broken iceblock to the next at the coast in Holstein during low tide.
Frequent weekend tours with the parents on byke to nearby places; byke tours through Germany and Danmark during the vacations.
$ a.m. walks to the forest to watch deer and other animals. Walking my old grandmother around, up to 10 km on feet.
I had penpals in Malaysia, Birma, India, Trinidad y Tobago, Finland, USA, Japan. (Met some of them later.)
Founding and leading for some time the Protestant Church's youth group in our village.
Long frequent evening sessions with our pastor discussing "God and the World".
Founding and leading a political party's youth group in our village. Participating in election campaigns.
Being an active member in the Young European Federalists.
Working actively at the pupils' newsmagazine at our school.
Being a member of a mixed group of young pupils, farmers' kids, apprentices, workers, police academy students and more, who met quite often, did a lot of nonsense and sometimes got quite drunk ...
And over all other activities: reading hundreds of books, starting at 7 years with cookbooks and the whole Bible (did not make it, just about 400 pp.) Listening to the radio (AFN Germany, Radio Luxemburg, London).
Becoming a war resister and pacifist. Going sometimes to the cinema (not often), and go to every circus, which appeared in our region. Sometimes went a 100 km to Hamburg to the theater (with school). Started to see a little bit more TV from 1981 on. Most TV programme today is so unacceptable, dull, brutal and stupid, one cannot stand it; but today's kids can, obviously ...

Gerd, a German living in TV spoilt Nicaragua ...

Part 3

Still more activities we had as youths:

Stamp collecting, coin collecting, baseball cards.

Games:

Hide and seek, Little League baseball

Concerts and plays, school orchestra

Hebrew school and Sunday school

Nature collections:

Butterflies, moths, caterpillars, turtles, snakes, rocks - just about anything

Camping

Weather observation, hurricane tracking, measuring rainfall and snowfall

Stargazing

Science: Erector set, electric set, chemistry set

In our generation we were in direct touch with the whole world, not through the TV or computer screen.

Joel from Connecticut (Part 3)

Part 2

Now I recall more activities we had without TV as youths:

Swimming at the local pool or at the beach

Reading books - we read all the Hardy Boys mysteries, which we borrowed from our town library

Playing cards and chess

School extramural activities - sports, chess club, plays and dances

To reiterate: Parents must take responsibility for providing wholesome, educational activities for their children. In many ways the Interent is even worse and more corrupting than TV, and even if you don't have a TV at home, your children can watch it through the Internet as my wife's children do. By all means, limit your children's exposure to both TV and the Internet!!

Joel from Connecticut (Part 2)

I grew up in a small town in Connecticut, U.S. in the 1950's and 1960's. We didn't have TV until 1961. Before that most of our leisure time was spent outside, playing baseball in summer and sledding in winter, and hiking all year round. In the early 1960's we went to summer camp where there was no TV either. The TV that we had back then was rather tame and innocent and included sports (baseball and football), childrens' programs, and comedies such as I Love Lucy and Get Smart, although watching reruns of the Three Stooges ruined our table manners…

In school there was no television, except on special occasions; for example, live coverage of the launching of one of the U.S. space missions around 1962.

Our parents occasionally took us to the cinema and this was a family event. I still remember "The Ten Commandments" around 1960 as the first movie I saw. "Babes In Toyland" followed not long afterwards.

In October 1973, I first came to Israel as a volunteer on an orthodox religious kibbutz in the wake of the Yom Kippur War and spent a year. The kibbutz had a television in the social hall, but I never watched it. Instead I found satisfaction picking oranges all day and learning Torah in the synagogue in the evening. Here too we were taken once together into Tel Aviv to the cinema, as a treat, but I was not impressed.

Both my wife and I need the Internet for our work and we have it in our home. Unfortunately this is the greatest single issued that divides us. Her children from a previous marriage watch Israel television programs with no supervision until the small hours of the night and morning, and just today I saw a news item reporting that Israeli educators have severe criticism for one of the programs I believe they are watching. I am firmly against any use of the Internet by youth. Instead, parents should select materials that have only wholesome educational content and present it to their children as a prize for good behaviour.

Joel from Connecticut, U.S.

In the 1990s, TV and the Internet became extremely prevalent. One would say that I am part of the so called iPod generation, but I feel a disconnect, and I am glad. I owe it to my Mother, who said that I would thank her one day when she took away our TV. I don't even remember what age I was, but I am 21 now, so back then I was just a little boy. I remember clearly the first thing my brother and I did once the silence got too unbearable. We immediately went outside. There we found our toy trucks (Tonka trucks) which were in the sideyard and had accumilated tons of mud and dust. From then on, we couldn't even remember what it was like to have a TV because from then on we were never bored. We went outside and played games with other kids (when we could get them to come outside), but most importantly we read books. A ridiculous amount of books.

Luis from Rochester

I grew up in the 80s in a household without television. I remember kids at school being totally perplexed by this. They'd ask me - what do you DO all day?? I was rarely bored. I read books insatiably in the winter, played outside with the other kids on the block from the time I got home from school until dark, took dance classes, listened to music. I never felt deprived. As I've gotten older and watched more TV in my adult household, I have felt my attention span getting shorter, reading books isn't as effortless as it once felt. I hate the way my generation prioritizes TV and the ratio of isolated TV viewing to social interaction seems so high. It's also amazing how often TV shows are a central topic of conversation - I'd love to live in a time where this wasn't such a central part of every household. I remember my dad talking about how strange it was to him to see the flickering blue glow of the tv screen emanating from households on summer nights while the front porches sat dark and empty.

anonymous from anytown

gardening, growing vegetables.
Walks on the municipal park.
Sunday dinner sitting at the table with nice crockery and cutlery
Outdoor games
Rabbit keeping for fun and profit
Collecting the eggs from the chicken coop

Harry

my 4 yr old can draw elaborate pictures of things and characters and my 1 yr old son can pretend he's giving me a shot by sucking on the toy syringe then press on my leg. bet they couldn't be that creative if tv zones them out

anonymous from anytown

my 4 yr old daughter can draw elaborate pictures of forests and characters and my 1 yr old son can pretend he's giving me a shot by sucking on the toy syringe then press on my leg. bet they couldn't be that creative if tv zones them out

anonymous from anytown

I am 18 years old and our family doesn't own a TV. We emigrated from Ukraine to the U.S. in 1996, so we didn't even bother buying a TV that we wouldn't understand. We kept busy by having a lot of different activities in our church, a lot of part outings and stuff like that. At home, we would play with all the other kids (also mostly immigrants in our community). we would play hide and seek, Tag, Cops, had who could jump farther from a swing contests, foot and bike races, imagination games, tents out of blankets in the bushes. Also, my mom had everyone one of us 5 kids rotate chores every 3 days, so that kept it from boredom. My little sister developed a talent for drawing because she would doodle when she was bored, we would record ourselves singing hymns, or made up songs, make up stories..............lots of fun things that kids can do today. My father has 10 brothers and sisters, and none of them have TV as part of their lives. When we get together for reunions, the kids are not zombies but are very active and get along wonderfully because they are all in big families.

anonymous from anytown

I wanted to do this! I see you already are. I'm born post TV, so don't know, but asked the lady next door recently: They used to hang out the front of the house a lot more, and walk around the neighborhood with kids. They used to know EVERYONE in a 200m radius and more.

44yo from Sydney

anonymous from anytown

Physical Exercise with family-frisbee, volleyball, ping pong with family and friends together, tiddly winks on the kitchen table after Sunday dinner (kids ipods, MP3, cell phones, playstations..all turned off or left in another room).
Swimming, running and walking everyday. Time to connect together without phones or interruptions on purpose.

anonymous from DTW via PHX

Girls learning to embroider quietly no TV, no radio, just quiet, peace.
Book reading, curled up in a chair, window seat (no cell phone around, no Ipod, no TV, no Radio..just quiet time).
spending time together as a family and sit down dinner each night (1 hour or more together)..no TV, no Radio on.
instead family conversation-connection time.

Originally from Michigan now in West.

In reading a biography of Miguel Agustin Pro, it was said that people loved to visit the Pro household because little Miguel would write and recite poems in honor of their visits. I mentioned this to a friend, who said, "Remember they didn't have television." So, I guess it's television or poetry.

J from Illinois

I grew up with a television set, in my room - nontheless. But, it hardly ruled my life. We spent most days outdoors until the street lights came on. We rode bikes all over town, played baseball in empty lots, built forts in hidden wooden areas, picked wild blackberries, did our "own stunts," played in the woods, climbed trees.. now, I'm an adult.. and there are 100s of kids living in our subdivision, but I never see any of them. It's rare. You'd think children were an endangered species.. well, "free range" children are an endangered species. My boys have a television in our living room, but it hardly rules their lives. We have a massive family garden that they both love to attend, they hunt lizards, play in tipis and forts, my little one seems to be a long distance runner.. They build with blocks and love to paint and craft. They watch intently as daddy fixes cars and bikes and lawnmowers, they love to wade right down the middle of a creek.. TV is only part of the problem, it's actually the "solution," most parents rely on to keep their kids calm, quiet, out of danger (ie nature), mess-free.. among other stuff.

anonymous from anytown

When I was young, my father would "wolf whistle" to call us home. It's an extremely ear piercing whistle that can be heard throughout the modern subdivision. It kept us able to be "free range," while still ensuring we didn't roam too far. I asked once, how he learned to do it.. he replied, "I didn't have a TV when I was young." Same goes for his awesome yo-yo prowess.. and his great mechanical skills for fixing anything with a motor!

C Cook from GA

recently moved to a different state and decided to not buy a TV for my young children's sake. i had few close calls to buying a used one because they were louder,more high strung, busier, and messier. then i realized they are finally waking up!

C from Texas

I grew up in the 60s. We had such cool programs like Lone Ranger, My 3 Sons, Daniel Boone, Flying nun, Get Smart, McHale’s Navy and so many others. Our TV was black and white and not to easy to see. I do not recall the timing of the programs but my viewing was certainly limited. Not so much for the feeling that too much TV was bad, but more for just getting me out of the house. At least I think. I don’t recall any major pangs of remorse for not being glued to the tube. I do know we all knew what was on and when it was on so we would gather around and watch, particularly Sundays Wonderful World of Disney. Base ball game use to be exciting to watch. I particularly recall one summer afternoon in Detroit, the heat was oppressive, only a couple of us kids were out on the street, probably playing marbles. The only sounds you could hear were the cicadas blending in with the sounds of table fans and the baseball game emanating from a dozen houses. While I was probably bored out of my head, just waiting for the ice cream truck, that is a very strong memory. Otherwise we played with toy soldiers, fished, built forts, camped out, raided the golf course for golf balls, and my particular favorite, root around in the swamp for cool bugs. Those were neat days now that I think back. But I recall the age old “What Am I Going To Do?” popping out once in awhile. “Why don’t you watch TV” was NOT my moms answer.
The world had its problems, and yes, I was just a child so my view then was pretty carefree, but I don’t recall having the world’s issues in our face 24 hours a day. Nor did we have the sex and violence we have today. Leave it to Beaver actually had serious “story morals” that probably taught us some manners. Also the good guy always prevailed. I would like to blame the TV for all our current woes, but I know it’s not that simple. But don’t get me started on that.
Today I could be a couch potato if not for a demanding job. It’s pathetic.

K from Michigan

Tap-door-run, Gang-huts, secret-bases, Marbles, Conkers, Trump-cards, Playing soldiers, Tig, Hide and Seek, guiders (go-karts), Snail Races, Puddle-jumping, Mud-balls, snow-balls, bike-rides, roller-skating, getting chased off building sites by the watchman. Think we used to get in a lot more trouble than kids do now: but it seemed to be tolerated a lot more than it is now. Kids seem to be branded delinquent for simply hanging about nowadays.

Craig from Edinburgh

Playing marbles
Playing conkers
Dressing up in net curtains and mum's high heeled shoes
Playing at being teacher
Spending hours riding my scooter
Hopscotch
French skipping (with elastic tape)
Singing and talking to Grundig tape-recorder
Reading comics like June and Schoolfriend, Bunty, The Topper, Jackie, and many many more.
Hours and hours of fun playing with local friends and learning to share toys.
Making pretend tents out of blankets.
Paddling in plastic blow-up paddling pool.
Going to local jumble sale and getting lots of very cheap (but exciting to a young child) goodies for a penny.
Riding a bike
Playing safely in the woods, and swinging on rope swings.
Many let's pretend games.
Hours at the window enjoying the view of the hills and valley, which looked totally different at night with all the street lights on.
Colouring and sketching.

anonymous from anytown

Playing hide-and-seek (I used to love that game), reading, walking, having long talks with friends, knitting, singing, dancing, listening to music on the radio, going to the theatre. There are so many things people can still do, but they are letting themselves brain-washed by TV programmes.

anonymous from anytown

Staring out of the window. Getting sidetracked in meditative tasks...yesterday I spent an hour in my garden just enjoying pottering around. Using our hands to do things. Feeling like your life, not the lives of others, are important.

anonymous from anytown

anonymous from anytown

In response to Ged in particular as I, too, hail from Wigan. Though I'm an 80's child not a 70's child.

Although I grew up very much surrounded by TV and all it has to 'offer' a large portion of my free time was spent doing things besides watching TV (which, if I remember right, was more of a late evening thing anyway).

Some activities I used to partake in (especially during the summer holidays) include *TAKES A DEEP BREATH* :

Bike rides
climbing trees
Running around in heavily wooded areas (or anywhere outside really)
Building "dens"
Playing sports
Calling for friends
Playing "pretend"
Playing cards
drawing
Having sleep overs
Robbing stuff from local building sites
Staying out until dark

I'm sure there's more. But as the years progressed I became more and more engrossed in TV and slowly sank into oblivion every day and night. Now I am older (and, dare I say, wiser) I have come to see that TV has nothing to offer me. Okay I still use the Internet a lot and I play computer games but with my use of TV diminishing evermore I have now found time to do the following:

Read (I never read when I was a child so I'm making up for lost time now)
Write
Study (I'm in university)
Go to the gym
Band practice every week
Play guitar
Go to the cinema with my girlfriend
Go to the pub with friends
Grab some beers and a rugby/football/frisbee and head to the park (warm climate only)

And oodles more.

Life is so much fun when you're not watching others have it all

Andrew "Heid" Heaton from Wolverhampton (formerly Wigan), UK

FUCK THE MEDIA!

Gnomo

I was born in 1970, we had a tv and I watched it all the time when I was small, naturally. The teachers at my school became so concerned about my reading ability ( I just couldnt get on with it at all) that they spoke to my Mother who became alarmed. She threw out the tv and we read in front of the fireplace every evening. In just a couple of weeks I was top of the class for reading and I've adored it ever since. My mind came alive and I have a wonderfull imagination. I cant wait to show my son the joys of reading and living his life, not watching other people living on a box instead.

Josephine, Somerset, England.

I was born in 1971, but my parents, now in their 70s, were born in the late 30s. My generation grew up with hoards of ridiculous and addictive, television. Whenever I talk to anyone from my generation about 80s TV, they can spout out 100s of innuendos and reference points that I remember.

On the other hand, my parents grew up as teenagers in post WWII Philippines. Their experience with television was minimal, if any. My parents recall high school socials and get-togethers. Perhaps, this is why they raised my family to take on extra-televisual activities like the violin or singing or even running amuck outdoors till all hours of the night.

They speak of a time more independent on the family-base while hey talk of forming their own ideas based on what they read and experienced. The difference today is that we're spoon fed thousands of biased and inaccurate news stories and guided by so many popular culture viruses via the television. My family has thrown out our television. We now choose to filter the news through the right sources. This way we can form our own opinions and decisions on what it is that is effecting our place in the world.

Eleazar Cruz (Philadelphia, PA, USA)

TV has killed common conversation. Fillers like "umm," "ahh," and "you know" permeate conversations. It is as though the ability to verbalize intentions is being taken by the boob tube.

I grew up in a TV house and hated it! I'd rather play sports with friends or read books. I would run to my bedroom scared because my parents would look like zombies in front of the TV.

We are missing story telling abilites. Common manners. That sense of community many poster s referenced in the BTVE (before TV era). Literacy, bah! I asked someone if they knew of Cicero and the guy asked me if
it that a form of cancer. Folks think that the only Homer is that Simpsons character.

As a parent now, I am raising my daughter TV free. My wife and I read to her, sing her songs, and play with her. Everyone remarks how smart and nice she is for a 1 year old. We babysit our child the old fashioned way: by being engaging parents and not letting the cursed TV brainwash our child.

Thank you for this site. I no longer feel like a loner. It brings peace knowing there are like minded folks all over the globe! Kill your TV!

Cliff (Sartoga County, NY, USA)

I was born in 1975 but my mom (born in 1945) absolutely endorses a free of tv childhood, I remember lots of reading and drawing, even singing and recording my voice in an old cassette recorder, other than seldom old movies from cultural channels, TV was not a member of the family; I remember feeling really curious visiting a friend's house and seeing her sister "do homework" while watching the tv, they had a satellite antenna and I was wowed that they had a disney channel, so once a week I would visit and watch that, the funny thing is that my friend and her siblings were already bored with the satellite dish channels and would spend their afternoons outside playing, how different from today when kids are glued to media, and playing outside is considered dangerous.....my fiancee has lived 3 yrs on his own without a TV and agrees in not having one once we marry, I had been thinking on getting one for playing dvd's for our future children, but reading your comments I am certain it is possible and more educational to raise a kid without TV....

Alison Baramovitch from NY