We have raised 3 kids in a TV free household, (with the exception of the occasional movie), and they are now 21, 19 and 17 and are all fairly well adjusted young adults. It was important to us to have someone home as much as possible with the kids, and to provide things to do so that they wouldn’t be bored. Somehow they managed to keep themselves busy and entertained without the box.

We did have computers when they were teens, but the time and Internet time were limited to a couple of hours a day, increased as they got older, and adjusted by grades, personality and chores around the house. Our 17 year old is using his last 2 years of High School to obtain his Associates Degree at our community college. He should graduate from HS with a diploma and a degree.

We all spend a considerable amount of time reading, and the kids have repeatedly sought out and discovered excellent programs within the public school system to keep them challenged and excited about learning.

We now have 2 younger kids, 1 and 6. They have not yet had the pleasure of television or movies. They don’t seem to be overly bored. Their mother is with them, and keeps a small home business running, and the kids don’t seem to be any more bored than other kids I have come across.

With that said, I disagree with your assessment of “Turn off your TV” week. While most people that participate will get nothing out of it, other than the knowledge that they have the discipline to avoid something for a week, a small number of people that participate will find alternatives, and perhaps continue to take advantage of them after the week is over. If a few people every year find other things to do, and stick with them, then it’s worth the promotion. If you don’t like the idea of one week a year don’t participate. If you don’t like your kids learning to do something for a week and then dropping it, that’s more of an issue between you and your kids.

I have had lots of comments about our TV free household. People laugh, tell me that I really sneak out and watch TV when no one is looking, tell me how much I’m missing, ask me how I can live without ________ (fill in the blank), and the scariest part; ask me how I can live with small children in the house without Disney videos? It’s not that hard. We read books, make up stories to tell the kids, listen to music, play cards, build forts, and let our kids have time to just play.

The one thing I’ve learned is that what other people do is what they do. I don’t get excited or upset about what other people are doing. I do feel sorry for people who use the TV as a baby sitter. They are missing out on their kids, and their kids are just plain missing out. But then, that’s just my opinion.

I do think you should be a little more forgiving of your child’s school. While I do believe “TV Turn-off Week” is more for adults, there is value for anyone to keep the TV off for a week. You see, you are a minority in the way you raise your child. I think most parents don’t get as involved as you do. The rise in violent video games and sexually graphic movies is a testament to that.

So, will this week make kids across the country stop watching TV forever? Maybe, maybe not. But, there is a good chance that this week without TV will make people realize there are other things to do besides watching TV. It might not make them stop watching, but I think there is a possibility it will lower the amount of time spent watching. Especially in older people who can be more conscious of the amount of time that was spent watching TV.

I don’t think these awareness days are meant to stop something that is “evil”, it is more to bring awareness to the issue. “National Breast Cancer Awareness Week” isn’t meant to stop breast cancer. But rather to make people aware of the disease, and the complications from it. So TV Turn-off week is meant to make people realize how much they watch, and the things they are missing by watching a lot of it.

I understand you deeply care about what your child does, and like I’ve said, that is a good thing. But just as you have strong feelings against TV Turn-off Week, I think you need to be aware, and acknowledge, that there are positives to having a week dedicated to no TV.

Again, to acknowledge that a week without television is a “good thing” implies that a week with television is a “bad thing.” It is that premise with which I disagree. –cfs3

TV Turnoff Week lasts one week of the year. That week the campaign encourages people not to watch TV for only that short period. The other 51 weeks of the year, you are free practice/consider the “alternative” to TV Turnoff (which I guess is turning on TV).

I was glad to discover that you are not against turning off the TV per se, but against the institutionalizing of such an idea. Comments I received on my blog echoed your experience - namely, those who have already tamed the ‘TV tiger’ see this event as pointless. Conversely, those who haven’t exercised such diligence previously, recognize that participating for the short (achievable) duration of one week, may either
a) give cause to investigate other and better ways to spend their time, or
b) present the opportunity to discover or attain a self-discipline with regards to TV time that had been hitherto unknown.

As a 24 year old, I can offer this observation. About half of the kids I know who grew up with parents as strict as you seem went nuts as soon as they moved out. By never learning how to have self-discipline, they weren’t prepared for the lifestyles they were exposed to in college. Your daughter might grow up to be really unique and talented. She also might grow up to be boring, incompatible with her peers and resentful. I would be much more impressed if your daughter chose not to watch TV because you taught her to have a greater interest in art, music, writing, or something productive, than if she only watches as much TV as her ‘enforcers’ allow.

As for TV Turnoff Week: I never interpreted it as saying that TV is fundamentally evil. Do you feel like your Jewish friends are telling you that bread is evil when they observe Passover? It’s really just a way for people to become more self aware about their individual TV habits. I see nothing wrong with that. You seem like a real jerk dismissing the event as nonsense when it’s goals are essentially the same as yours. Step down off your high and mighty pedestal.

He, he…so tell me - how you really feel?

Seems difficult to discuss something like this intelligently when religion is irrationally shoehorned into it - indeed, you demonstrate clearly one of the problems with “Anti-Weeks” like this one, the fervor with which proponents hold on desperately to their “beliefs” without considering alternatives. And I certainly won’t get into an argument about whether setting reasonable and age-appropriate limits for children is the proper thing to do, since that has nothing whatsoever to do with “TV-Turnoff Week.”