Parental Guidance

Lesson:
Yesterday, we talked about how media may shape our identity, how media might influence aspects of our personality or even, in my situation, help us imagine a future self. What about the media that we did NOT see or have access to?

My parents had a lot of rules about media when I was growing up -- mostly it was around TV. Today I want us to write about the way parents or guardians try to influence our identity, by keeping media from us or by putting restrictions on media.

Here is the question to which you will respond:
 1.Did your parents or guardians have any rules or guidelines for watching TV, playing video games, and using the computer? If not, did you know anyone who had these rules? Or why your parents didn’t. For example,  what you could watch and when and how much time? Try to be specific.

2. How did you react to the rules at the time? Give an example.

3. Why do you think parents have these kinds of rules?  Give an example.

Let me model how I think about this as I write: 

                When I was young, we had pretty clear rules about watching TV. First, it had to off at dinner unless it was a special occasion like a movie was on that we could all watch. Next, we were not allowed to watch it after 7pm. That was when the “adult” or grown-up shows were on. We could watch TV later on Friday nights. In the morning, we usually had to wait until 7am, but we would sneak downstairs and watch it really softly. They did have these rules about not sitting too close to the TV.

                I usually reacted by sneaking to watch TV when my parents were not home or not following the rules if they were not around. When my mom would call me for dinner, I would always say, “Just a minute,” and she would say, “Now!” in a really angry voice. She was annoyed that we paid more attention to the TV than our siblings and was always mad when she talked to us but our eyes would drift back to the TV.  I don’t think my mom really cared about TV because she would always fall asleep when she sat down.

                 The reason I think parents have rules is first because they are annoyed by it and might feel competition for our attention. I also think that they hear stories about how it makes us stupid or blind. In truth, however, I think my parents wanted to protect me from content that I just was not mature enough to handle (and my mom knew I had really vivid dreams, so perhaps she wanted to protect me from my dream). 

Writing Time: 10 minutes, NO WALK, NO TALK 

Sharing Time: Author's Chair worked well for this one.