Limited Time Special Offer: Get new ebook A-Z To TV-Free *free* when you purchase The TV-FREE System
Using the alphabet as a guide, A-Z to TV-Free, gently encourages young children (ages 2-8) to turn off the TV set and rediscover the wonderful world around them. Includes coloring pages for each letter. High-quality, full-color, diverse pictures encourage creativity, active play, family time, friendships, and outdoor activities. Printed version of the book is available to order from Lulu.com
The complete TV-FREE System also includes The Awful Truth About Television e-book, The TV-FREE Workbook, and The Family Fun Finder all available for immediate download.
If your family's time, money, and dreams being sucked into the vortex of your television set, find out how you can get in control of both your TV and your family time with The TV-FREE System. Start your TV-FREE life today!
GIVE UP MY TV?!?!
It may sound preposterous at first but heavy TV watching is linked to a great number of social ills. I realize that little box in your home looks innocent enough. It's such a entertaining and relaxing piece of furniture. However, a growing body of scientific evidence indicates that TV viewing has become an unhealthy addiction for a great many people. Society as a whole is suffering. Cutting back on TV can help minimize some of the problems, but many people are ADDICTED to their television set. If you are among those addicted to TV, the only solution may be to TRASH YOUR TV.
Look at some of the effects of society's TV addiction:
THE AVERAGE AMERICAN WATCHES OVER 4½ HOURS OF TELEVISION EVERY SINGLE DAY1
UPDATE 9/21/06: The most recent figure from Nielsen Media Research, Inc., is 4 hours and 35 minutes per day, up three minutes from last year. Now, let's add that up. That is 31½ hours every week (almost a second job!). That is also 5½ solid days per month and more than two whole months every year. By age 70 that is over 13 years watching television! Aren't there more important things you would rather be doing with this time? Spending time with your family? Camping or hiking
Learn more about TV time.
Learn basic strategies to control TV watching
Contrast the time spent watching TV with the next little fact:
US PARENTS SPEND 38 MIN. PER WEEK IN MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION WITH CHILDREN2
Yet pundits are perplexed at the decline of the family. Parents spend on average over 31 HOURS watching TV versus 38 MINUTES actively engaging their children. How much better could families function if those numbers were reversed?
UPDATE 9/21/06: Worse, according to the most recent figures from Nielsen, the average American household has a TV playing somewhere in their household for 8 hours 14 minutes per day, up three minutes from last year. Eight hours every day with the TV playing does not leave much time for quality time with the whole family. Learn more about TV and family time.
Are you starting to think I may not be so crazy after all? Maybe your waistline will convince you that your television set is not so innocent. Consider this next little fact:
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 DAY3
TWICE as likely! That is a significant correlation. Several studies have shown that men, women, AND children who watch more than three hours of TV per day are twice as likely to be obese. That is not surprising considering that the only activity that burns fewer calories is sleeping. Plus, all those mouthwatering commercials can sabotage the best of diets. If you are seriously trying to lose weight, you may wish to consider losing that TV first. Learn more about TV and obesity.
Your valuable time and waistline are not the only victims of your TV. Consider this next little fact:
CHILDREN ARE EXPOSED TO AN AVERAGE OF 40,000 50,000 TV COMMERCIALS PER YEAR4
What does this mean for parents? The advertising industry calls it the "Nag Factor". If you don't have kids yourself, you've probably at least witnessed the "Nag Factor" at work at your local store.
Assuming adults do not fall prey to the BUY, BUY, BUY mentality, marketers can rely on kids (who can't tell fact from fiction from cheap advertising) to nag their parents incessantly. To add to this, advertisers are increasingly turning to product placement to increase sales. How much is this worth?
THE "NAG FACTOR" INFLUENCES $300 BILLION IN SALES PER YEAR5
In 2001, the "Nag Factor" influenced an estimated $300 billion in sales. That amounts to over $4,000 per pestering child per year. Who knows how much more money was spent on the subsequent sales of headache relievers! Learn more about nagging and the cost of TV.
That TV box is not looking so innocent any more, is it? Another little fact to consider:
CHILDREN WITNESS 14,000 SEXUAL REFERENCES ON TV YEARLY6
This may encourage teens to experiment sexually. What's worse is that those figures have been climbing. In the last 8 years sexual references on TV have doubled. Congress' much touted bill, which increases fines for obscenity, will not have much effect, mostly because it will not cover cable TV, only broadcast TV. Learn more about TV and sexual content.
CHILDREN WITNESS 16,000 TV MURDERS BY AGE 187
16,000 murders on average. Plus, they witness 200,000 violent TV acts during that time frame. This violence has serious, long-term effects:
LONG TERM STUDY SHOWS THAT VIEWING TV VIOLENCE CAUSES AGGRESSION LATER IN LIFE8
According to one long term study by Dr. Leonard D. Eron, watching television violence at age 8 was the strongest predictor of aggression later in life--stronger even than exhibiting violent behavior as children. A second, 15-year study reached similar conclusions. Even if you are an otherwise ideal parent, by allowing your children to watch violent television, you may be unwittingly setting them up for a violent future. Learn more about TV and violence.
Perhaps you believe a v-chip and careful monitoring will be enough. If you are going to allow your children to watch TV, keep a firm control over the content they watch. However, there are still other problems which are not related to content. They are integral to medium of TV. Another fact:
STUDY SHOWS THAT TOO MUCH TV AT AGES 1 & 3 RESULTS IN ADHD SYMPTOMS AT AGE 79
"TV rots your brain" is not just an urban legend. It is especially damaging for developing brains. It is linked with attention problems in young children. Because of the risks, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of two should not watch any TV. Children do not need attention problems like ADD/ADHD.
Plus, many parents have noted that children just do not behave as well after they have been watching TV (although they may be perfect, angelic zombies while the TV is on).
On top of that, television puts the brains of children and adults in a very suggestible, hypnotic, alpha brain wave state for 4½ hours per day. This is simply not good for you, although it may be good for marketers, as noted above. Learn more about TV effects on your brain.
Convinced your TV is harmful yet? It is not just individuals and families who are affected by TV. The entire society suffers from TV's malicious effects.
MORE TV = LESS COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, SAYS STUDY10
The more time viewers spend watching TV, the less time they spend doing community activities. Not only are pundits perplexed about the decline of the family, they are dumbfounded by the collapse of the community. At best they ascribe it to a mysterious malaise called "modern life".
America used to be known for its active citizenry. The tendency is still there, but the time required to be engaged with the community is being sucked up by all those TV sets across the nation. It's time to declare our independence from our TV sets and rebuild or lives, our families, and our communities. Learn more about TV, community, and democracy.
Of course, an informed citizenry is equally necessary to a healthy democracy. American's main source of information, TV news, is contaminated.
VNR's CONTAMINATE AIRWAVES WITH FAKE NEWS11
Think you can trust what you see on the TV news? Think again. VNR's, or video news releases, are propaganda pieces that are produced by governments, corporations, and others. They are designed to look like authentic independent news stories. TV stations often broadcast these pieces without disclosing their source. Learn more about TV and news.
Are you ready to trash your TV yet? Perhaps you want to, but you just can't imagine life without it. There is a reason for that:
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN STUDY SHOWS: TV VIEWING IS ADDICTIVE12
This is the clincher: A recent Scientific American article showed that television is addictive. Why else would we trade our family time, our health, and our hard earned money for something that humanity has survived without for hundreds of thousands of years?
Many people who encourage others to watch less TV fail to take addiction into account. It is not enough to say "Turn it off!" Many people need help getting in control of their watching. They certainly need to understand that TV's addictive effects may undermine any attempts to control their TV watching. Learn more about TV addiction
Last, but not least...
YOUR TELEVISION SET IS TOXIC WASTE13
The cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in computer monitors, television sets, and similar video display devices contain significant concentrations of lead and other heavy metals. Earth 911 has a database of recycling centers which can handle television waste. Find a place near you to dispose of your old television set properly.
THE GOOD NEWS
The good news is that once you get in control of your TV watching, not only can you begin to fix many of the problems listed above, you and your family have up to 4½ extra hours every day. What could you do with 4½ extra hours each and every day for the rest of your life? Get in shape? Spend more time with your family? Start a new business? By getting in control of the time you watch TV, you not only conquer the negative effects of TV, you can actually build a better life for yourself...a TV-FREE life.
HOW can you get in control of your TV?
The TV-FREE System is designed to help individuals and families overcome TV's addictive effects. Based on you and your family's situation and interests, it outlines a comprehensive method to get you in control of the time you watch TV. Now that you know the truth about that innocent-looking box, start your TV-FREE life today.
If you have wanted to cut back on the time you watch TV and devote this time to other meaningful goals and activities, The TV-FREE System is for you. Imagine the life you could build with 4½ hours each and every day.
Top 10 Alternatives to Watching Television
| Family Fun Finder! |
Click on the button below to randomly select a fun activity to do. |
2. Have a Family Game Night.
3. Play sports.
4. Read a book.
5. Go for a walk or hike.
6. Dance.
7. Grow a garden.
8. Host party for friends and neighbors.
9. Exercise.
10.Go fishing.
More fun Alternatives
What's New at Trash Your TV!
Recent Interviews:
New Section Teacher Resources
Contains free worksheets for teachers, homeschoolers, and parents.
New Articles:
NEW! Fighting over the TV Remote Control: Is it a life or death issue in your household? by Katherine Westphal
A story about a deadly dispute over a TV remote highlights TV's strange ability to make people bicker and fight.
New! How much TV do you really watch? by Katherine Westphal
Most people think they do not watch that much TV. Studies say otherwise. Are you watching more TV than you realize?
Life is just better...Trash Your TV.
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