Television, video games, etc., that cause kids to have poor attention spans!

I have friends who have homed-schooled their kids. They have one TV and watch it rarely. The family has one computer but are only on it for certain school things and some entertainment. Until the ages of 16, they were not allowed on the computer without a parent. The son, now 17, designed a computer program where the parents can monitor the children, not just on line, but in other places, too. He is ONLY 17!! They are now marketing it and using the money for college. These kids are so well-rounded, have great communication skills, have many friends, are smart, creative and they did not need video games OR TV to get there. My daughter allows her baby to watch 30 minutes of BABY tv, every now and then. Once in a while I will let her see a video of Burt and Ernie on my computer off of YOUTUBE but we have all decided she will read, play and all that fun stuff. We had one TV, we were allowed to watch very little TV. Sat mornings were a treat of eating in the living room and watching morning cartoons for about an hour. Then go clean our rooms and go out and play. We did not want to watch TV when we got home because we could not wait to go out and play with our friends! If it was bad weather, we played indoors. Friday nights were special, too. Magilla Gorilla and Harrigan and Son (a comedy sitcom), for an hour. We got to watch cartoons on some rainy days or when we were too sick to do anything else. I would lie on the couch but also had little one person games to play in my room. When I would be home sick for a week, I would do paint by number, play Hi-Q, or Parcheesi and Chess with my grandmother. I liked doing that more than TV. I like TV, don't get me wrong, but it's so inactive!! I have it on at home and still do things. Like right now, I have it on, am painting the kitchen, and came here to check my email and myLot. (Can't miss that!! LOL). As far as spoiled with THINGS!! Oh, don't get me started on that. My kids' friends all got new cars for graduation. Mine got $100, went out to dinner and that was it. You want a car? Earn it! My kids only got cell phones when they got their license. If they did not keep up with chores, no driving! They bought track phones so they were quite frugal with talking on it. We had one computer and they were allowed a little time on it, with permission. It was in my living room where I could watch them. I did not get that until they were about 16 and 18, anyway. When my son wanted video games, I gave him my old Atari. He liked it! He saved his own money and bought a handheld. The thing is, because he was not exposed to it over and over, he never spend that many hours doing it. It was just another thing he did. My kids grew up on hand-me-down clothes, not because we were poor, but because we had so many people who had clothes to give us. They got new clothes for school, at Christmas and birthdays. Walmart, K-mart, clothes and we loved doing yard sales and thrift shops, too. Their friends, well not all, but most, would wonder why it did not bother them to wear name brands bought new. My kids wondered why they wondered about it. Not to say I was mother of the year, but hey, I was not going to raise kids who did not appreciate things. I was raised to appreciate, they were going to, also.

It sounds like you did a good job.