We Turned Off To Tune In

By: Kim Zachman

            When I first heard about TV Turnoff Week, I thought it was a great idea…for other people. I totally agree that the American public spends too much time in sedentary activities. According to Nielson Media Research, the average American watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of TV a day. It’s no wonder that one of every three adults and one in five children and adolescents are overweight.

But my family isn’t overweight and we don’t watch too much TV because we have strict rules in our house. Absolutely no TV or video games until all homework is done.

However, there are days when they don’t have much homework so they get to watch Fairly Odd Parents and Spongebob Square Pants after school. The evenings usually include Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody before bedtime. Of course, there’s Saturday morning cartoons, but that’s tradition, right?

Do you see a pattern here? I finally did, even though I was desperately rationalizing to protect the delusion that I was a conscientious parent. When I visited TV Turnoff Week’s website, www.tvturnoff.org, I was startled by the statistics. By the time they’re 18-years-old, American children will have seen an average of 200,000 acts of violence on TV and there are more than 3,000 research studies linking exposure to media violence with acts of real violence. Only 14% of 12^th-graders who watch TV six hours a day achieve reading proficiency (for more statistics, see below). Violence, poor scholastic achievement and the growing incidence of childhood obesity fueled my determination to protect my children from this scourge of modern society.

We needed to break some bad habits and establish some better ones. A good way to start was TV Turnoff Week.

The night before our Turnoff week began, we broke the news to our daughters, eight-year-old Abby and six-year-old Josie. We explained that we were not going to watch TV or play computer or video games for a whole week. I emphasized that this was not a punishment but a challenge and we were all going to do it together.

Always quick to get at the heart of the matter, Josie asked, “But what will we do?”

My husband, Dan, answered cheerfully, “Read books, play games, do puzzles, and color.”

Josie brightened. She’s always loved to play games with us and her excitement at the mention of it made my guilt level go up two notches. Why had we let a Nintendo play with her instead of us?

I expected more argument from Abby because she is the one among us that enjoyed electronic entertainment the most.  She could sit for hours, eyes focused, mind whirling but, her body completely immobile. Her middle name could be “Inertia”.

However, she got a gleam in her eye and said slyly, “Chess?” Abby was just learning the game and was itching to beat me for the first time.  

The Week Begins

            We went to the library and stocked up on books. We bought tickets to the circus and we had friends over for dinner. Outside, we skated, scooted and scattered in a lively game of freeze tag. Abby did finally beat me in Chess and Josie beat us all in Sorry, twice. One rainy afternoon, Abby built a Lego house for her stuffed hedgehog while Josie built a 12-foot snake with magnetic blocks.

            We read and read and read. In one weekend, Abby read two Junie B. Jones, three Captain Underpants and one of The Chronicles of Narnia. Josie also went through her stack of borrowed books within a couple of days. Dan started a book that he had gotten for Christmas two years ago and I finished my book club selection a week early.

            One of the positive things I noticed was that the girls were much more willing to help with chores and quicker to respond to requests. Usually when I called them for breakfast, I had to go into the living room and turn off the TV before they even noticed me. When they weren’t under the hypnotic effect of TV, they came the first time I called.

            Another positive aspect I noticed was the depth of conversation Dan and I achieved. Instead of commenting on a kitchen remodel on “Flip This House”, we talked about our worries, our work struggles and our little victories. The kind of talking that usually only happened when we had a rare night out without children.

            I became aware of how much I had been letting Abby and Josie veg-out in front of the TV so they were out of my way while I tackled the endless household chores. Instead of including them, I was shooing them away into mindless pursuits because it was easier for me. When I realized how much Josie enjoyed helping me in the kitchen, I felt another stab of guilt.

            When the week was over, we all agreed that we were glad we did TV Turnoff Week and would like to do it again. When Dan asked Abby if she would like to extend the week, she said, “Not this week but maybe later. I know you’ll find it hard to believe, but I’m a little tired of reading.”

            I was sure that the first time TV was allowed, Abby and Josie would sprint from the dinner table to catch up on Drake and Josh, but they surprised me. They asked if we could play Sorry again and we did.

Even though Turnoff Week started because of all the statistical evidence about violence, school performance and obesity, we discovered benefits that were not as quantifiable and yet just as important. The experiences we shared and the memories that we made strengthened our family ties, which made the sacrifice of TV seem trivial. We will definitely do TV Turnoff Week again. After all, I have to regain my title as family Chess Champion.

Kim Zachman is a freelance writer who lives in Georgia with her husband and two daughters.

TV Turnoff week: April 21-27, 2008

Some statistics from www.tvturnoff.org:

-       On average, American children will spend 1,023 hours in front of TV in one year while only 900 hours in school.

-       40% of Americans frequently or always watch TV at dinner

-       Average American watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of TV a day

-       The average American home has 2.73 TVs, yet the average American household only has 2.55 people.

-       By age 18, American children will have seen an average of more than 200,000 acts of violence, including 16,000 murders on TV

 For more information concerning TV Turnoff Week go to www.tvturnoff.org or www.screentime.org.