On the Effects of T.V. Overdosing

This may sound weird, but I wonder if the loss of the family unit isn't in part, somewhat attributable to computers, portable audio/video devices and multiple television sets.

When I was a kid, we only had one t.v. in the house. Hell, my parents still only have one t.v. Anyway, I remember watching lots of t.v. with the family as a whole. We had certain programs that we liked to watch together. Granted there wasn't that much since we didn't have cable, and local television in Montreal pretty much sucked at the time, but still ... You also had to be pretty much in agreement as to what you wanted to watch.

The other night, after tucking the kids into bed, I camped out in my room in front of the t.v. I think I was watching a movie I'd taped digitally. Richard walked in, took one look at what I was watching and then announced that he would be downstairs in the family room watching the baseball game. We spent the night quite contentedly apart, and then saw each other briefly after our respective shows were over and we were ready to snuggle up before lights out. It occurred to me then that if we were a one t.v. family, we'd either be fighting or one of us would be sucking it back unhappily. Because with Richard, you don't fuck around with the whole spectator sports issue, and I don't give in easily, so we'd either be filing for divorce or we'd be splurging for an extra television set (and if he had his way, it'd be some big ass plasma screen).

In our house, I'm embarassed to say that we own a total of six t.v.'s, three combination vcr/dvd players, one portable dvd player and two computers. The viewing options are pretty limitless. (And this doesn't count the t.v. and dvd player in my car). It's especially amazing when you consider the fact that we so rarely tune in, other than to watch the nightly news or the morning weather. Every now and then we have a family movie night, but other than that, we pretty much don't watch anything. But the underlying and unspoken fact remains that if we all wanted to watch something different and were unable to come to agreement, rather than trying to reach a satisfactory resolution, we could all disband to separate rooms and watch our preferred choice.

I have to then wonder if this means that my children will be deficient in conflict resolution skills. It sounds stupid, I know, but when I lived in residence at U of T, we had some pretty heated arguments over what program to watch in the common room. You had to learn to plan ahead and/or to pitch your cause to the masses. Does the proliferation of video options in my household mean that my children won't learn valuable skills about compromising? Can the disintergration of family units be directly traced to the extinction of the single t.v. households? Sure it sounds crazy but televisions can have an impact on society -- if I recall correctly from one of my social history classes, I do believe that the year t.v.'s became accessible to the general public, birth rates dramatically decreased. And what about remote controls? I've known couples who have had relationship breaking fights simply because one partner has taken liberties with the remote.

So tonight rather than flaking out in front of the t.v. by yourself, do it instead with your significant other. In my case, it means I'll either have to watch a whole whack of sports (I'd rather eat dirt), or become more effective in forcing Richard to suffer through an artsy chick movie (he'd rather eat dirt), but I suppose it might be good for our relationship. Either that or one of us will be dead by the end of the week. In which case, we'd have that much more freedom to enjoy our viewing choices.