Turn off the TV for Fun

by Lauri Griffin | More from this Blogger

23 Apr 2007 02:22 PM

Today is the first day of "National Turn Off the TV week". Keep reading for why you might consider doing that in your house.

According to statistics up at The Center of Screen-Time Awareness, the average American home has more TV's than people. The statistic that really bothers me is that the average American watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of television a day.

The idea behind National Turn Off the TV Week is not that TV is all bad, but that letting it control our lives to the average tune of more than 32 hours a week is not good. At our house we recently limited "screen time" to one hour a day, two hours on the weekends. "Screen time" is anything electronic - computer, DS, game cube, or TV. I was not a popular person. But I know that TV viewing has been linked to all sorts of things I don't want for my children - violence, poor body image, obesity, lower test scores, lower reading ability, and lack of imagination. And I want the kids outside playing, I want them to walk the dog, to draw, read, to play instruments, to play games together, and be bored.

Bored? Yes bored. Because that is when the brain kicks in with ideas. That's when they learn to plan their own fun. The first couple of days were hard. I pulled out my how to make pop-up book, and planted seeds with the boys. I suggested lots of games. They moaned about unfairness while they tried to find loopholes in the screen-time limitations. But then something cool happened. All on their own they came up with ideas for water fights. They got out hover disks and Frisbees and played in the back yard. They played games with the dog. They even broke out the Clue game.

TV isn't bad, computer games aren't bad. But when we let them get in the way of living, of having fun with our families, and growing and learning - then it's good to step back and push the off button.

Visit our Family Fun section for all kinds of fun, creative, family-building activities that don't involve the TV. The Center For Screen-Time Awareness has all sorts of ideas for keeping the family busy. Also see Turn Off TV Week and What to do on a rainy Saturday, as Turn Off Your TV Week is about to start? and our forums for more ideas on turning off the TV.

Learn more about Lauri Griffin

Lauri lives in Colorado with her husband and three sons. Amidst all the laundry and packing of lunches, she tries to keep parenting fun.

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Jeff Bogle (1022) 24 Apr 2007 06:46 AM

Great Stuff Lauri! I did not, somehow, even know that is was happening now. I remember writing about this last year on my own blog. A great movement that should make families think about priorities and how they spend their time. Thanks for writing this!

barefootbookslady (201) 24 Apr 2007 11:53 PM

I really appreciate your "good spin" on TV Turnoff Week. My childen and I have experienced so many positive experiences from getting away from the screen and going outside, cooking, putting on a puppet show, reading books or just looking at the pictures in books and trying to draw them ourselves. We even learned some new card games. This is a really good idea not a bad TV public relations week. Well said.

Lauri Griffin (2703) 25 Apr 2007 06:30 PM

Yes! I want families to think about their TV time - not to turn it off forever. Thanks for the support Jeff and barefootbookslady!