Like You'd Expect an Endorsement from a Blog Called Tuned In

I read your earlier dissent, and I think you miss the point. The goal of Turn Off Your TV Week is to increase the amount of time parents spend interacting with their children --- Turn Off the TV Week is designed to make "family time" something that isn't cut out from TV viewing time.

Kids will probably have withdrawal symptoms for the first two or three days, but by day four they will be so desperate for any stimulation they may actually start to WANT to interact with their parents.

Of course "Turn Off the TV Week" also has to be "Disconnect the Internet Week" nowadays.... but the point is the same.

I'm not quite sure I get your argument. Or rather, I'm not sure I get MY argument as filtered through your argument. Having families spend more time together is clearly part of their mission, and it's a noble one, but one that's better achieved by encouraging people to watch TV more actively and selectively, and to set limits. That may be a tall order, but no taller than turning off TV for a week, which sends a reductive message: TV = bad.

Your last point is a good one--although the organization does use some language about "screen time," the Internet is becoming a bigger draw for kids anyway.

I think the difference is that the TOTV folks would prefer a family around a real hearth, while you see television as the new hearth -- and the job of the parents is to keep the kid from getting burnt.

I think both are valid ideas -- that's ita a good idea for families to learn to entertain themselves and enjoy each others company without media intervention, AND have parents more involved with their kids through the kids media consumption.

My comment here would be that research shows it takes 21 days to "make a habit" - one week of turning the TV off a habit does not make in my opinion. In fact, the recommendation could backfire - make those kiddies and parents so hungry for tv by the end of the week that they make gluttons of themselves at the end of the week and return to their own old habits.

Media in Moderation - there's a good idea. Don't watch TV all the time. Don't stare at the computer screen for hours each day. In fact, if you're reading hours upon hours each day, get off your duff. Families can make an effort overall to improve/fine tune their media habits. Only have 3 hours of family time each night? Great! - Eat dinner together, go outside to play together, watch an entertaining show together and don't forget to read that bedtime book to share together. Variety is the spice of life.

The irony is that I bet the TV-turnoff people and I agree on the moderation idea. As I mentioned in my piece last year, when pressed they acknowledge that all they really want to do is reduce people's "screen time," which at least in most families is probably a good idea. TV, reading, exercise--none of these are mutually exclusive. I think I understand what the TV-turnoff people are driving at, which is to use the attention-getting gimmick of a turnoff to get people to entertain the idea of watching more judiciously. But by turning it into an absolutist proposition, I think they do their cause more harm than good, as Lori suggests.

More than that, I think it's a mistake to focus on medium rather than content. TV, computers, text--all of them are delivery systems. There is a lot of worthwhile TV, even (or especially) for kids; there are a lot of benefits to computer use; there are great books (and some pretty lousy ones). It's harder to send the message that you should choose widely and choose well, but that's really what more families need to do--not to try the media equivalent of a crash diet.

James,

Good point. Books can take you to real and imagined places you may never be able to physically go to. Of course, if all you do is sit and read for hours on end, you are missing the world going on around you and in your own home just like if you are sitting in front of the one eyed monster.

Moderation is the key and finding activities you enjoy individually and as a family. I watch a gawd awful amount of TV. But I was also heavily involved in my son's baseball team when he played for four years, was involved in his Tae Kwon Do that he did for a year and a half and have been involved in Boy Scouts with him for the past 5 years.

If I'm not home to watch something, I record it and watch in my downtime.....if I get any.

Moderation and content over medium like you said.