My son William is 11 years old. Such a character, he's intuitive and funny. One of his best qualities is his ability to focus on something ..it totally consumes him. the most recent target for his attention was to have a television in his bedroom which he shares with Sam who is 14.
I am not a lover of TV's in children's rooms and have actively discouraged my boys from such a venture. There are so many things already which fragment family life, and added to this (and putting it bluntly) there is such utter rubbish broadcast in the name of 'entertainment' and 'education' that I don't want to let my children bathe in the glow of such mindlessness. Don't get me wrong!..I enjoy watching something provocative with my children..it's actually healthy to discuss what we are watching..The recent uproar over 'Celebrity Big Brother' meant that the nature of racism was a constant point of discussion in our household.
I digress!..William implored me to let him have a TV in their room. So after careful thought and a double bluff..I declared that if William could save up enough pocket money to buy his own TV..then he could have it in his room. Now Will is not well known for his budgeting skills, and is quick to spend his money..so I firstly doubted that he's manage to save even a fraction of the total. I secondly (and with reservations) decided that if he could learn to save, then he will have learnt a valuable lesson on goal setting and value.
So it was to my surprise that a week later he came back from his friend Dominic who lives over the road to tell me that he was selling his television and could he buy it?..Dominic only wanted £10 for it!..wouldn't you know it..that's exactly how much money Will had saved!?...There was no way out..so after laying down all the strict ground rules, we said yes. That was a week ago. Since then, Will has hardly looked at it..this is mainly due to his brother playing games on the Playstation ..also most of the shows Will likes are on cable channels which don't extend to his room!
Today whilst Sam was playing some violent gangster game..there was a bang and a puff of smoke..a sizzle and then the gentle aroma of fried circuit boards. Poor Will..he was so upset...Time to start saving again!
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3 comments:
I loved this post of yours!I agree so much with your attitude towards T.V and 'value of money'.My 9 year old has been begging me for a play station,and so far I've held out.I told him that he can save up and buy it with his own money.(Actually I love play stations too!Tend to get addicted--and that was another reason I refused, but my son doesnt know that.Ha ha!)
I dont think my son knows anyone who will want to sell a play sation :-)At least I hope not!
Bless him. I love that you made him save up. I strongly feel that something that wasn't earnt is not valued by a person. I also agree about the standard of television programmes. There has definitely been a dumbing down in the quality adn the quality of transmission leaves a lot to be desired too. Often the placing of adverts is sloppy with abrupt breaks in the middle of action! Personally, I watch less adn less.
Oh poor Will :(
Maybe now he'll realize he wasn't using the tv much anyway and decides to set his sights somewhere else.
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