Ideally, our future kids won't even *want* to watch TV... that would be great. I would like for us to raise them to be naturally curious about the world, to be excited to go outside and play, or to read a book or play a (non-video) game. To do things that require thought, energy, creativity. They don't have to have massive IQ's, but I don't want to raise bumps on a log, either. Maybe I'm idealistic, but I think it's possible.
Basically I hope to not have the TV on at all when we have kids. Or at least, not for anything beyond watching movies. No friggin' commercials, period... they're gonna get enough peer pressure to consume from their friends at school. I'd prefer to not have a TV in the house, period, but I think my husband would go crazy.
As for video/computer games... I really, really hope to ban those from the house as well. I agree with Leto that raising children is not a popularity contest, and I don't care if our children and all their friends think I'm a bitchy mom, I won't stand for their brains rotting away in our house. We currently have no video game systems, as a household, and we have no computer games installed on either of our machines. I hope we keep it that way.
That said, I know that there has to be a balance between draconian laws and a moderate approach to kids being human. Maybe video gaming would be a reward for doing chores or homework on time, that kind of thing. I never had that structure, as a kid... indeed as sillygirl said:
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I want him to be a kid who plays outside, not who has blisters on his thumbs from playing too much Street Fighter.
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... it was me who had blisters on her thumbs from playing Tetris and Super Mario Bros. for hours, days, weeks on end when I was still in the single-digits. (I actually had to tape/Band-Aid my thumbs, no joke).
And yet, because I was raised on 2 acres of land, I feel like I played outside whenever it was warm enough to be out there. I don't think we will have the luxury of raising our kids on a plot of land, though, so I am determined to find ways for them to be outside whenever possible... living next to a park, going camping regularly, going fishing, whatever it takes. For kids living in the city, especially, I think it's hard to have the motivation to go outside and feel safe playing, exploring one's environment.