I believe in radical unschooling. I swear I do. You know, in theory. I'm a patient, don't sweat it kind of girl (ignore other posts saying complete opposite of this) but there are some things I'm not so convinced of here, namely, tv and video games. I read a blog talking about this very subject. Good points, sure, nothing I haven't heard before by the very loud and abundant RUs out there. I'm waiting for someone's words to inspire hope in me, but so far I'm left in a quandary. "Make your life more interesting." Right. I know that's a good answer, but my fear is that my life isn't that interesting.
For some people there is nothing so fascinating as video games. I know you can waste hours and think you've only been on a short time. This worries me. I have trouble myself with wasting time online when I have millions of other things that I should be doing. I've seen weak people fall at the hand of online RPGs. It's hard for me to be trusting in this. Sure, people who spend their whole lives playing video games, and have no real interests outside of them, are the exception. Perhaps their problem is precisely that they never learned to self limit, in fact, I'd bet on that. What troubles me, however, is this very common (and relatively new) phenomenon of men whom's favorite, and frequently all consuming past time is playing xbox after work (before work, during work, instead of work, geting stoned and playing all night - oh dear I'm getting carried away). Right, I get it; they didn't learn to self limit. They weren't unschooled. Right, yes, probably.
Still, it's difficult momentarily to believe that at some point they will learn to self limit and will be fascinating people with very varied interests. They are not this currently. They are furious balls of energy who never tire of staring at a screen. They're interests are limited at best. For Jonas it's lego, video games, Miyazaki films, weapons and taking pictures of these things. For Lavinia it's tea parties, dress up, nursing, dolls, Miyazaki films and having her picture taken. Oh, and watching Jonas play video games.
Perhaps I have an irrational fear of this. That's likely. We have no television because I don't want the commercialism (among many, many other things) to be accessed freely whenever they wish. We still watch movies, though. We don't watch them during the day because I take care of other kids, too, but in the evening they have free reign over it. They're usually not that interested, and rarely ever watch anything back-to-back. So I can see that this idea works. I'm just stuck at the video games. I'm trying not to limit, and let it play out, but when it comes to online games there are just some things I cannot feel good about. Am I needlessly hung up about this?
For some people there is nothing so fascinating as video games. I know you can waste hours and think you've only been on a short time. This worries me. I have trouble myself with wasting time online when I have millions of other things that I should be doing. I've seen weak people fall at the hand of online RPGs. It's hard for me to be trusting in this. Sure, people who spend their whole lives playing video games, and have no real interests outside of them, are the exception. Perhaps their problem is precisely that they never learned to self limit, in fact, I'd bet on that. What troubles me, however, is this very common (and relatively new) phenomenon of men whom's favorite, and frequently all consuming past time is playing xbox after work (before work, during work, instead of work, geting stoned and playing all night - oh dear I'm getting carried away). Right, I get it; they didn't learn to self limit. They weren't unschooled. Right, yes, probably.
Still, it's difficult momentarily to believe that at some point they will learn to self limit and will be fascinating people with very varied interests. They are not this currently. They are furious balls of energy who never tire of staring at a screen. They're interests are limited at best. For Jonas it's lego, video games, Miyazaki films, weapons and taking pictures of these things. For Lavinia it's tea parties, dress up, nursing, dolls, Miyazaki films and having her picture taken. Oh, and watching Jonas play video games.
Perhaps I have an irrational fear of this. That's likely. We have no television because I don't want the commercialism (among many, many other things) to be accessed freely whenever they wish. We still watch movies, though. We don't watch them during the day because I take care of other kids, too, but in the evening they have free reign over it. They're usually not that interested, and rarely ever watch anything back-to-back. So I can see that this idea works. I'm just stuck at the video games. I'm trying not to limit, and let it play out, but when it comes to online games there are just some things I cannot feel good about. Am I needlessly hung up about this?
2 comments:
I don't think you're needlessly hung up about this at all. I'm sorta in the same place - you know that. Still don't have any good answers though. Maybe there's something too about teaching self-limiting behavior. Maybe it's important to constantly discuss what happens to our brains when we spend too much time on the computer or in front of the TV. Maybe that's part of the way to help kids learn to navigate this crazy world of crazy stuff. It feels like the middle road, which seems more reasonable than to go one way or the other, kwim?
You know, Anna, that's a really good point. Discussing is a vital part of the learning process, at least for me anyway.
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