Will You Try Turn Off the TV Week?

TOTTVW (Turn Off the TV Week for those who are not in the club) is, was and forever will be a dumb idea.

Unlike say Take Back the Night or Night Out which has and promotes real issues, TOTTVW does not.

Kids and families like watching TV.

So what.

Because of our irrational fear of abduction, kids don't go outside unless it's arranged or a "playdate" so what are they to do?

And have you seen the homework we throw at these kids now?

The little prof is in 1st grade and damn, he's got as much homework as I did in Middle School.

So if he wants to ease back and watch some TV, God Bless him.

Cause I ain't turning it off.

All day my 3 year old has Sprout and Noggin on. It's in the background if she wants to watch it - which she does on and off as she plays or hangs out. She can spell her name and about 10 other words already, she can count to 20 in English and Spanish, constantly learns things I didn't teach her and I can't see any reason to shut it off. She doesn't watch any other channel except those and I do play her tapes of Live from Lincoln Center to expose her to classical music and dancing as well. What's not to love? We also read and play together - I think it's a good balance.

While I see pros (as CariAnnv points out), and cons in terms of attention spans and patience, I think turn off TV week is ridiculous. We try to keep it to an hour a day during the weekdays, and a little more on weekends and days with bad weather. Why in todays culture is it such taboo to admit you let your kids watch TV?

This movement is another knee-jerk, Sarah-Palin-style reaction to the mythical cultural epidemic that all kids watch too much TV and are lazy and unmotivated in life because of it. The power of negativity is why these movements continue to fail. If only they focused on the positive instead ... Visit Your Local Playground Day sounds much engaging ...

Jim, please keep your hatred to yourself, or at least do a little research before you embarrass yourself with your dumbness of evoking every Libs favorite boogie-man (in high heels), Palin.

FYI: This dumb idea was started in 1994. Well before you even heard of Palin (she might have been at college #4).

Regardless, I found your post reductive and dumb.

Moreover, kids watching too much TV has been an issue since TV came into the American home.

Or did you just now start paying attention to the world?

I recall reading studies that concluded that interactive style tv--think Dora and "say map, say map!"--is effective in teaching young children. I recently took a cognitive psychology course and was interested to see that it's not uncommon for those in the field to work in children's tv. Think noggin and their statement that Blue's Clues helps with metacognition. (I always thought it was a bunch of bull when I heard those statements but then again, I wasn't familiar with cognitive psych terms.)

I had an old boss who didn't watch television and didn't even have one in his house. And it was common knowledge--reminded me of this Onion story:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694

If only they focused on the positive instead ...

You've got Jim all wrong, prof. He's actually parodying himself.

I had no idea people turning off their tv was such a big deal.

Leaving your tv on all day for your three year old? That's just weird. When does her brain get any peace?

I'm not saying tv is evil. But jeez it's only a week.