Are You Ready to Turn Off the TV?

TV Turnoff Week--a program that encourages families to rediscover other lifestyle pleasures by turning off their TVs--begins Monday. Since the program’s inception in 1995, more than 24 million people have participated. SAMANTHA MacLAREN spoke to two teenagers--the age group that watches the most television--about the role of TV in their lives.

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REBECCA J. LEE

15, ninth grade, North Hollywood Highly Gifted Magnet

Since my family doesn’t have a television, it’s TV Turnoff Week all year long for me. My parents basically made a lifestyle choice when my brother was born; they decided that they wouldn’t have a television because they wanted him to read and do other things instead.

They just felt that what was offered on TV wasn’t important enough, so we don’t have one. When I go over to my friends’ houses, I watch television all the time. I think TV can be a little addictive. I am drawn to it when I’m at friends’ houses.

What do I do instead of watching TV? I read, go on the computer, talk to friends on the phone. I do a lot of art projects, I cook or I just do my homework. There are lots of activities you can do.

I don’t think that television disables a child’s ability to learn. Some of the smartest people I know watch television. I think people are against television because it takes a lot of time away from other things you can be doing.

Of course my life is different from other teenagers’ lives because a television is a big part of our culture. I know my friends talk about what they’ve seen on TV a lot and it’s something I can’t participate in.

When I grow up, I may have a television or I may not. It would be a family decision. It’s hard for me to accept the premise that teen violence has increased because of watching TV. It’s just something to blame the violence on. Living without television is really just fine. The world is the same. If TV were eliminated altogether for everyone, it would be the same world. I think TV Turnoff Week is a good idea so people can see that they really don’t need television to survive.

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THOMAS ALLEN

16, ninth grade, Palmdale High School

Ihave never heard of TV Turnoff Week and would not participate in it even if I had. I watch television at least two to three hours a day. I have to watch “Dragon Ball Z” (a Japanese cartoon) every day.

I think some shows are addictive. They just hook you.

I don’t think children in this country watch too much TV but they do watch enough of it. I agree, it does affect them inasmuch as they could be having fun and playing outside instead.

But I don’t think television lowers a child’s ability to learn. Kids today probably watch more TV than their counterparts 20 years ago because there are more viewing choices and the shows are better.