JS3 Presents: Media Deprived Day Two

What are your priorities? This question crossed my mind many times as I made it through the 2nd day of my media deprivation project. Without the distraction of media, I was able to give this question quite some consideration. As I looked over to my son, I realized that all my priorities are influenced by him, directly and indirectly. The realization that my main priority is my son has brought me to conclude that media does not have the strong grasp on me as it once did. However, the uncertainty of how much of a hold it has on my son’s life makes me wonder if I have actually mastered this vice or simply passed it on to the next generation.

After being media-free for over 24 hours, I began to notice things about my environment I never had given much thought before, primarily when it comes to my son’s environment. When he awoke this morning, the first thing he wanted to do was turn on the television to watch Sesame Street. I couldn’t turn my attention away from him as I watched him laugh, smile, point, and dance along to the show. At first, I thought it was cute as always, but a few minutes later I gave it a second thought with this project’s goals in mind. I wondered if maybe the interaction was too much for him this early in the day. I wondered how he, being a young child, would deal with being robbed of that “interaction” with the television. I questioned if this was a failure on my part as a parent for making television and media in general such a big part of his life to this point. Had I doomed my son to become the medium in the next “dumbest generation”?

As our day went on, the answer to that question started to reveal itself. After breakfast, we headed off to do some window shopping for Christmas and attempted to meet Santa Claus. On the way to the mall, there was no music playing per the new norm. Here is when the first test for my son would come, as the ride was the longest so far we’ve had to go without any music. As I drove, I peeked back to see how he was doing and smiled at the sight before my eyes. My son was looking out his window, lost in the world passing him by as if nothing had really changed. It was nice to see that both of us were making it through this project together.

Having my son with me at all times has aided me greatly in this media deprivation project. Before I had my son, I would spend most of my time on social networking sites, playing video games, watching television, or texting friends. However, in the couple of years he’s been on this earth, he’s steered me from those time wasters towards a commit that is worthy of my time. At the mall, I had no time for texting as I had to keep a close eye on him to make sure he was still by my side. Once we were done and back at home, I barely had a chance to check my email because I had to get dinner ready for him, wash dishes, and get him changed. Once we had some down time, the UT game was merely background noise in the main room as he pulled me into his room to play with him (Ed. Note: The UT game was my one allowance since my friends planned over a week ago to come over and watch it). I could barely find time to sit down and type this up as he wanted me to lay by his side during bedtime as he drifted off into slumber.

Overall, day two proved to me that both my son and I have made it a priority to manage our media intake. Yes, he may like to watch television in the morning to help him wake up, but he definitely is not happy to sit in front of a screen all day. I like to listen to music as I drive from place to place, but I loved hearing my son verbalize his first thoughts. Media definitely has the potential to consume our lives, but we do not allow that to happen to us. Our priorities are in tune with one another. What are my priorities? Well, right now my main priority is finishing this blog so I can go spend time with the one thing that definitely does consume my life: My son.