PURPOSE: To re-think the role of television, why we use it and how and what for. Assess its impact on students, teachers, parents, children, individuals, etc.
HOW: Simply switch off or unplug your television set for 7 days and engage in a wide range of substitute activities.
WHO: Individuals, children, families, students, groups, etc.
WHERE: In your homes, schools, libraries, businesses, congregations, etc.
Interesting Facts About Television
- Number of 30 second commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
- Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5
- Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
- Percentage of children ages 6-17 who have televisions in their bedrooms: 50
- Percentage of day care centers that use television during a typical day: 70
- Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900
- Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
- Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
About Television Free America and the National Television-Turnoff Week
Television free America is a national nonprofit organization that was founded in 1994 to raise awareness about the harmful effects of excessive television-watching and encourage Americans to reduce the amount of television that they watch and replace television time with activities that lead to more literate, productive lives and engaged citizenship.
National Television-turn off week is the first nationwide effort which targets the medium of television and asks that people reassess the role television plays in their daily lives as entertainer, pacifier, babysitter, time filler and background noise.
Television is generally a passive "non-activity" which often detracts from more healthy, interpersonal, productive, rewarding and community-oriented activities.
National television-turn off week is about having more fun and turning "on" your life. It is an opportunity to rediscover the wide range of activities that exist when one unplugs from the sedentary, image-based, simplistic and commercial world of television.
Alternative Activities for Children and Families
- Volunteer in a school to teach reading, math, computer skills.
- Learn to play the guitar or other musical instrument.
- Attend community concerts.
- Organize a community clean-up.
- Put together a puzzle.
- Visit the library. Borrow a book. Attend library activities.
- Go ice skating or roller skating.
- Listen to the radio.
- Visit the zoo.
- Paint a picture, a mural or a room.
- Attend a high school sporting event.
- Find out about your area's community center or park's activities.
- Go swimming. Join a community swim team.
- Read a book aloud to your younger sister/brother.
- Plan a picnic or barbecue.
- Go bird watching.
- Volunteer for a community organization or charity.
- Play with your pet.
- Go dancing.
- Write a letter to a friend or relative.
- Learn to cook.
- Plant a flower, vegetable or herb garden.
- Read magazines or newspapers.
- Plan a slumber party.
- Start a neighborhood basketball, soccer or kickball game.
- Go camping (even if it's just in the backyard!).
- Join a choir.
- Go through your closets and clothes. Donate surplus items to Goodwill, the Salvation Army or a local rummage sale.
- Start a diary/journal.
- Go to a museum.
- Take a nature hike. Collect seeds and leaves. Make a collage with the materials you collected and post it on the refrigerator.
- Play cards.
- Start a community excercise group that power walks, runs, or bikes.
- Get out the family album. Research your family history.
- Go listen to a local band.
- Make crafts to give as gifts.
- Make up a story and write it down.
- Learn to say simple phrases in a few different languages.
- Ask an older family member to tell you a story about his or her childhood. Write about it.
- Learn some new riddles or jokes.
- Bake two batches of cookies; one for your family and one for your neighbor.
- Watch the night sky through binoculars; identify the different constellations. Observe the moon.
- Visit a local bookstore.
- Go to a movie with your family or friends.
- Walk to work or school.
- Start a kids bowling league.
- Train for a 5K race.
- Teach a neighbor about a computer program.
- Go fishing.
- Begin a family project.
- HAVE A PARTY TO CELEBRATE A TELEVISION-FREE WEEK!!!!
Update: I just read an article from the {American Academy of Pediatrics}..they say that children should not watch anymore than an hour or two a day of television. Children under two should not watch television at all.
2 comments:
Several years ago we decided to drastically limit our children's tv as well as our own tv time. They are not allowed to have a tv in their bedrooms. We are such an active family that is was not too hard of a transition. I really do believe it has made us a better family for it!
only my youngest is a big tv watcher. My kids aren't even big into video games. Weird!
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