I left the television behind with my first marriage when my daughter was in 5th grade. She complained and begged for the 2nd half of the school year that she was missing all those great shows her friends got to watch.
But after a summer away from TV and most of the buddies, she was shocked to find them boring after school started again. She complained that they never did anything interesting – just watched all those dumb shows. Plus, we weren't barraged by all that desire-creating advertising, which helped both of us live within a tiny budget.
I've now been without TV for 30+ years, and have no idea where I'd fit one into our lives, or home. There are so many more interesting things to do. And my daughter has a television, but seldom turns it on. She just lost the hang of sitting and staring. Her 4yo son watches chosen videos, but no TV.
By the way, folks who watch a lot of commercial news, which sensationalizes the worst and scariest in human behavior, tend to have an overblown sense of how dangerous the world is, how untrustworthy people are, how evil government is. It must be an uncomfortable way to live.