Scott Robertson

NO TV

By: Posted On: 2009-10-24

Can you survive with out a TV? Can your child? I know I can as I watch very little TV now, although I tend to spend way to much time on the Internet, but I guess that is expected since I make a living from the Internet.

Did you know...  

"American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV."
-- The Kaiser Family Foundation 

The average american parent spends only 38 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children. Family values? That is 28 HOURS of TV versus 38 MINUTES of meaningful parenting. How much better could families function if those numbers were reversed? 

"These results demonstrate that television still holds its position as the most popular entertainment platform," said Patricia McDonough of Nielsen Media Research. "At this point, consumption of emerging forms of entertainment, including Internet television and video on personal devices, seems not to be making an impact on traditional television viewing." 

The total average time per household in 2005-06 was eight hours and 14 minutes per day.
-- Reuters (September 22, 2006) 

A person who watches 3 hours of tv per day is twice as likely to be obese as a person who watches only an hour per day. 

Children are exposed to an average of 40,000 tv commercials per year. 

Children witness 16,000 tv murders by age 18. 16,000 murders on average. Plus, they witness 200,000 violent TV acts during that time frame. 

Here are some good articles you should read...

Have you ever stopped to think that the TV is not a automated baby sitter and that many of the health problems in kids might be linked to the tv. It is a known fact that kids are watching more tv and do less physical activity such as playing out side, riding there bike, rough housing with a friend, or even walking the dog. It is also known the kids that are over weight, have diabetes, ADHD, etc is on the rise. Why could they not all be related? I do not mean necessarily as the root cause but at least as one part of a larger picture. 

What would your life and your child's life be like with no tv? Would you spend more time together? Would you talk more? Would you be more active and healthier? Will your child do better in school? Will you do better at work? Why not give it a try for a week, or cut out a day, or an hour a day, or what ever of tv and see what happens for yourself... What do you have to lose that you can't catch up on in reruns? 

I am no doctor nor any kind of expert in this field. The purpose of this post is to get you thinking about getting your kids away from the tv and video games and back into activities where they have to move and think. As always I look forward to seeing your comments below. 


 
 

Materials found on InsaneScouter'.org is © 1998 - 2025, but may be reproduced and used for anything consistent with the Scouting and Guiding programs. Unless otherwise noted on the page. If you believe we are republishing your copyrighted material without permission, please Contact Us including the url to have it removed or your copyright information added. All opinions expressed on these pages are those of the original authors. All holdings are subject to this Disclaimer.

Please be advised that InsaneScouter is NOT affiliated with any Scouting or Guiding Organization including Boy Scouts of America.

Scouting resources for Den Leaders, Cubmasters, Scoutmasters, Girl Guides, Girl Scout, Cub Scout, Venturing, Exploring, Beavers, Joey, Boy Scout Leaders