[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

There was no TV during the day when I was a kid that I would have wanted to watch. There were only about 8-10 stations too. I can remember in the morning watching Sally Star but I can not even remember TV on at night for kids until the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family and they were on Friday night I think.

We had three stations, but by the time I got home there were cartoons (when I was younger) and shows like Gilligan's Island, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, McHale's Navy, Hogan's Heroes, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch and (my two favorites) Batman and The Wild, Wild West on after school when I was older. I can remember watching all of those.

My mother literally said to me every day "go out and play and don't come home until lunch"- not kidding.

Exactly. Your mother sent you outside. (And I know you're not kidding, because my mother did the same thing.) Ditto the mothers who found chores to do when kids complained of being bored. It's not that tv [technology] kept us inside, it's that parents redirected us to something else. Computers, internet, video games, tv, etc. are just like anything else in life -- they are not intrinsically bad but children have to be taught how to use them responsibly. So, when children are playing video games instead of going outside, the video games aren't to blame. Blame responsible adults who aren't setting appropriate limits and aren't teaching better habits, or blame a culture that really doesn't support or value things like kids just going outside and playing for hours on end.

The reality is that in many if not most places these days, you won't find many parents who'd just say "go out and play and don't come back until lunch," and there are a variety of reasons, including some very valid ones, for that. We live in a different world today, and it seems to me that things like constantly playing video games are a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

This is completely off topic, but...

My mom and I were talking the other day about how there doesn't seem to be any shows for the whole family to watch and enjoy anymore - shows with some good, wholesome comedy and life lessons here and there. I remember watching Family Matters, Full House, Boy Meets World, Step by Step, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, The Fresh Price of Bel-Air, Home Improvement.. And I watched The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Family Ties, Charles in Charge, Who's the Boss, Growing Pains, etc. in re-runs.

What happened to these?! And why don't they make more shows like them?

Because all but two or three of those shows were either too vanilla or awful or both?

My daughter loves Full House. It makes my head hurt.