Just say NO to the Plug-in Drug
This article was written by Gwynne Spencer. For more information on how to get involved in TV-Turnoff Week, visit http://www.tvturnoff.org/
By first grade, most kids have spent the equivalent of three school years in front of the TV according to Abandoned In The Wasteland: Children, Television And The First Amendment by Newton Minnow (Hill&Wang, $11.00)
When television was introduced into South Africa in 1974, the murder rate increased 56%.
There is a direct correlation between time spent watching TV and abominable test scores, according to the California Testing Bureau.
Now, the good news-
You can do something about it--kill your TV. Take the drugs out of your living room. Just say no. Cut the plug off the "plug-in drug". Be forewarned--kids who go "cold turkey" exhibit every major symptom of drug withdrawal: pleading, bargaining, anger, rage, sweats, agitation, anxiety, seeking out a "fix" elsewhere.
If you can't cut the plug, try another strategy--whenever there is an incident of murder, rape, violence or felony, the TV goes off for the rest of the day. Kids will get to watch an average of 10 seconds of TV.
While the debate rages over whether TV causes violence, there's no question that when kids are in front of the tube they are NOT engaging in behaviors that create quality adults--playing, actively engaging with the rest of the world, reading, observing, cogitating. Preschoolers who watch "Sesame Street" and "Mr. Rogers" are still sitting zombie-like in front of the tube.
Most honest folks will admit that once the TV goes on, it doesn't get turned off for at least three hours. On Saturdays, it's 8 to 15 hours of endless commercial pitch ("television's job is to get you to buy stuff you don't need", most kids will admit.)
If you cannot imagine life without TV, you're seriously addicted. Unfortunately there's no TV-anon you can join. But you can do your own intervention. Get out the art materials and MAKE something (there are thousands of books available on craft topics). Play a game with the kids. Teach them to knit. Read aloud to the whole family. Go outside, for heaven's sake, and dig in the dirt. Take a walk, visit a museum, go throw rocks in the river. Talk to your kids, tell them stories about scandalous members of the family.
If you read Joan Anderson's Breaking The TV Habit - Getting Unplugged: Take Control Of Your Family's Television, Video Game, And Computer Habits (Wiley, $12.95) you'll find a four-week program to detox your family, replace lost screen time with constructive and fulfilling alternatives, and make you feel better about "depriving" your kids of television. CAUTION: She also puts videogames and computer time in the same category as TV! If Anderson's book doesn't scare the electrons out of you, read Marie Winn's Unpluggin The Plug-In Drug (out of print but worth the search ), a terrifying litany of research proving the damage to kids done by TV. Then get out those scissors and cut the plug. Bet you can't do it!
Gwynne Spencer is author of "What's Cooking in Children's Literature" and can be reached at 800/253-4261 x 00 or PO Box 121, Mancos CO 81328
To stay up to date on new books on this topic, consider subscribing to The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. For your free trial, click here.
Updated 4/16/2003
To stay up to date on new books on this topic, consider subscribing to The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. For your free trial, click here.
If you're interested in reviewing children's and young adult books, then send a resume and writing sample to marilyn@childrenslit.com.