Family Time -- Steve Smith

“Television is no substitute for a parent. It doesn’t help develop

language skills; it’s simply background noise.”

-- First Lady Laura Bush

“When it comes to children, there are two successful strategies to

prevent obesity. First, parents should take control of the TV set and

limit how much TV their children watch. Parents also need to be in charge

of what children are offered to eat...”

-- Dr. William Dietz, obesity expert at the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, Nov. 13

“TV is the single most significant factor contributing to violence in

America.”

-- Ted Turner

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the

set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

-- Groucho Marx

TV Turnoff Week will begin April 22, three weeks from this Monday.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that television is bad for you, and

particularly bad for children, almost no parents reading this column will

do something good for their children and turn off the set for the week.

Not a single one will turn it off for good.

In the six years I have been ranting about how wonderful life is

without television, I have never heard anyone tell me that I am wrong;

that life is better with the TV on.

On the contrary, those few parents who have reported directly back to

me tell me how much better home life is without the TV on, if only for a

week. They tell me that their kids are reading more and playing outside

more. Perhaps most important, they tell me that their kids are actually

conversing more with them.

By now, this should not be news to anyone, even those keeping the tube

on. What most disturbs me, however, is how the mountain of positive no-TV

data is consistently ignored by decision-makers, particularly those in

education.

Laura Holmes is a fifth-grade teacher at Eastbluff Elementary School

who knows the value of a TV-free home in a child’s life. For most of the

23 years she has been teaching, Holmes has made a TV-free two weeks part

of the curriculum. Holmes reports marked increases in all of the

activities previously mentioned. Called the “No-TV Challenge,” Holmes

provides materials, motivation and support to her students to quit TV for

just one week. Many do not make it. Most of the kids, successful or not,

speak of their attempts as though they were trying to kick a heroin

habit.

Holmes’ program includes strict guidelines on TV watching, including

the rule that kids must leave a room where a TV is on. That can be pretty

tough for a kid visiting a friend’s house.

And just what are her students leaving behind during that two weeks?

Rest assured, it is not a series of documentaries on PBS. Here is a list

of what one student was watching -- remember, this is a fifth-grader, a

child of about 10: “Dawson’s Creek,” “Port Charles,” “All My Children”

and “WWF,” the wrestling show.

Yes, I’ve been spouting off on this subject for years, but it’s hard

to stop when the evidence is so overwhelming:

* Percentage of children age 4 to 6 who, when asked, would rather

watch TV than spend time with their fathers: 54;

* The number of hours of TV watching per week shown to affect academic

achievement: 10;

* Average time per week that the American child age 2 to 17 spends

watching television: 19 hours, 40 minutes;

* Number of television murders witnessed by children by age 18:

16,000;

* Hours per year the average American youth spends watching

television: 1,023;

* Chance that an American parent requires children to do their

homework before watching television: 1 in 12;

* Number of hours of television recommended by the American Pediatric

Assn. by age 2: 0.

I have my own theory as to why educators and others do not promote a

TV-free lifestyle. I believe it’s because in order to ask kids to cut

back or eliminate TV from their lives, these adults would have to turn it

off, too, and that’s very hard to do. I know because I’ve been through

it.

So here is my annual challenge to you. This time, however, it’s time

to stop relying on government or our schools to make the first move. If

you have kids, one of the best things you can do for their grades, their

health and their overall growth is to turn off the TV. There is no better

time than today.

For more information, visit www.tvturnoff.org or call (202) 518-5556.

For moral support or to find out how our home succeeds without TV, e-mail

me at smi161@aol.com.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.