Mindless Television

I don't think it's any secret that I keep the TV on in my house as background noise. I don't always watch it, but I do keep the channel on entertainment, some of it interesting and some of it...well...mindless. Take, for example, the fact that I have found a treasure-trove of Dr. Phil re-runs on the Oprah Winfrey Network for three early morning hours. After that, I switch channels for two episodes of Leave It to Beaver, followed by two episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. ALL of those shows were originated in the early '60s. They are WAY outdated now, but still entertaining. (The only show missing on the lineup is Father Knows Best!)

The most outdated of the three is Leave It to Beaver. A couple of days ago, there was an episode in which Beaver's teacher told his class to keep studying until the bell rang because he had to attend a faculty meeting...and he left the room. That is no-no #1 in education today! Teachers dare not even go to the bathroom without finding someone in authority to watch a class. If something occurs in a classroom without a teacher present, heads will roll. (Sometimes heads roll even if a teacher IS present and he/she fails to see a problem happening.)

Over the course of many episodes, I have watched while June and Ward Cleaver (Beaver and Wally's parents) do things that today's parents simply cannot do without fear of litigation. There have been a lot of times that June asks one of her sons if he knows where the other son is. The boys have plenty of freedom to come and go as they please. In today's society, if you don't know where your kid is, you are a terrible parent. I have seen it over and over again.

I've already mentioned in this blog that children of my generation generally had more freedom than those of today, even though parents still had the upper hand. I don't know how to explain it! I remember, as a very young child, playing outside in California all by myself in a vacant lot a few doors down from where we lived. No one checked on me that I knew of. In those days, kids were expected to entertain themselves, and we did. Mom always wanted to know where we were but didn't necessarily have to see us as we played. One rule in the summers was to be back to the house by dark. I played cowboys and indians, mucked around in the dirt, collected pretty rocks, rode a bike in the neighborhood, and generally just did what kids do. On days that my friend and I were allowed to go swimming, one parent dropped us off at the pool and picked us up hours later. No parental supervision while there. In 3rd or 4th grade, my friend Susie and I took swimming lessons at the "Y" in downtown Danville, IL. We caught a bus, got a token for a transfer to another bus, and arrived all by ourselves. Same thing in reverse on the trip home. I seriously doubt that parents of today would feel comfortable with that.

Why is that? Is society so much more dangerous today than it was then? I wish I knew! All I know is that my mindless TV watching sometimes points out how very different things are today. Maybe we were just more naive?? Of course, there was no Internet back then to remind us of the depravity of the human mind, although it certainly existed. Whatever!