Turning OFF the TV

What can two girls do besides watch TV when they get bored?  Yesterday, I was sick and spent the day resting.  My younger girls, to occupy themselves, spent a lot of time in front of the television.  We don't have satellite or cable, but they are quite capable of logging on to Netflix and finding cartoons.  This morning when school was done, I didn't want a repeat performance.  I have been reading and researching for quite awhile on the negative impact television has on children... and even adults.

There are many articles online about the destruction that habitual television viewing can and is causing.  I have been researching it more and more, as some of my children have either been diagnosed with ADD or have symptoms.  My husband also has ADD, and I don't need anything to make attention issues worse when this is something they might be genetically predisposed to.  Of course, I also believe that ADD is something people are blessed with, not cursed with.  If learning has to happen differently than how it is traditionally done in the schools, then so be it.  ADD has nothing to do with intelligence.

One article, entitled "How TV is (quite literally) Killing Us", was very eye opening about some of the negative aspects of television viewing.   The author, Dr. Aric Sigman, is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Member of the Institute of Biology, and the author of Remotely Controlled: How Television is Damaging Our Lives. Some of the things he has discovered after following a lot of studies and research was disturbing, and motivating.  For instance, viewing even moderate amounts of television:

• May damage brain cell development and function.
• Is the only adult pastime from the ages of 20 to 60 positively linked to developing Alzheimer's disease.
• Is a direct cause of obesity — a bigger factor even than eating junk food or taking too little exercise.
• Significantly increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
• May biologically trigger premature puberty.
• Leads to a significantly elevated risk of sleep problems in adulthood, causing hormone changes which in turn increase body fat production and appetite, damages the immune system and may lead to a greater vulnerability to cancer.
• Is a major independent cause of clinical depression (of which Britain has the highest rate in Europe).

Article after article, web page after web page, these type of findings are repeated over and over.  Yet, all I have ever heard for guidelines was to limit television viewing in children.  Common sense tells me that it can't be healthy, but the types of facts, such as those listed above, are not pushed.  If Americans were to take seriously the health risks to our children and ourselves from watching television a lot, a lot of people would be out of a lot money in the media and entertainment industries.

So, I told the girls "No TV".  I usually am strict about it, but today I was more so.  I am seriously wanting to limit the amount of TV watched in our house.  We already don't have satellite or cable.   The challenge?  My husband doesn't think it is the as big a deal as I do.  So, I have to pray that God reveals to him, and do my best to keep things moderate.  I already have strict rules about times they are allowed to watch.

I want my children to be thinkers.  I want them to have vivid imaginations.  I want them to not get their view of the world from fake lives in fictional characters on a television screen.  Do I want absolutely no TV?  No.  I like using it occasionally for learning... but that is occasionally, not regularly.  I also don't mind occasional, approved shows, but not this intense, daily viewing that is rewiring their brains.

Today, the girls played together.  They went to the park.  They played in the yard.  I took pictures of my youngest with the beautiful, blooming lilacs.  We had a good day... without TV for the most part.  I would like to have a lot more days that are TV free.