Shows from My past

When I was growing up I didn’t watch much television. I was either at after school care or involved in sports. When I would actually come home, it would be after six at night so there were no children programs on. During the summer or Saturday mornings I would be able to watch television. During that time we didn’t have cable so I was stuck watching WTTW, or ABC’s Saturday morning cartoons. Those were my favorite.

WTTW or channel 11 as I know it back home had shows like Arthur and Barney. When I was really little, around the age of 2 and 3, Barney was the only thing I would watch. It had a positive image for the children about being kind and friendly towards others. The show taught many different things like using your manors or even how to make arts and crafts. My parents loved this show because they could just put in a VHS of it and I could sit there for hours and watch it. As I got older the show Arthur came into play. It was about an aardvark growing up in the little town of Ellwood City. This show taught how to deal with younger siblings, and how to be a friend. I watched Arthur until I was in the third grade.

ABC’s Saturday morning cartoons were a favorite. Growing up I only had cable at my dad’s house, so ABC gave me a chance to see the Disney shows I enjoyed at his house. I remember watching That’s So Raven, and whatever else was on in the morning. It was my only chance to sit in front of a TV and relax.

As I got older I remember sitting down with my mom for TV nights. Almost every night there would be a show on the TV that we would watch together. Monday nights would be 7th Heaven. I would recall this to be one of the best influential shows on the air. It’s about a minister and his wife growing up with seven children. This show covered just about everything; smoking, dating, having sex, and racism. This show helped not only families but people too. I remember one episode where Ruthie, their youngest daughter was writing to a military man over sees who ended up dying. After the show they talked about how people can write to these men and women and send over care packages. After viewing this I wanted to do just that. Because this show was on for so long I grew up with it. There was never just one person I wanted to be, but a little of everyone.

Tuesday nights were my favorite. Gilmore Girls was and still is my favorite TV series. The show is about a mother daughter duo that grew up as best friends. It talked about single parenting the difficultly of it. It also talked about the difficulty of having a single parent from a child’s point of view. I was young watching this show but I absolutely loved it. I grew up with a single parent and this show just made me realize the fun we could have with it. It didn’t have a huge influence on me growing up other then speed talking and witty comments but it did give me a look into the future. The way the mother parents in the show is what I will look for in guidance when I become a parent.

Like I said in the beginning I didn’t really grow up with television as a huge factor in my life, and I’m happy with that. Today children’s lives run by the television. If a parent is going to stick a child in front of a TV make sure the show is educational and filled with positive reinforcement.