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your tv or your life, continued ...Published: March, 2010

And we didn’t take away the Saturday morning cartoons, which we fondly remember ourselves. But for the most part, TV watching took a hit Monday through Friday.
   
At first, my children didn’t like the new rule. They were so used to turning on the television and tuning in to the latest Disney Channel sitcom, they weren’t sure what to do with themselves. But a funny thing happened: They discovered board games and books. They played handball outside or played catch or practiced their soccer skills. They became less zombie-like and less bored. They found that there really is life without television.
   
Going without television is nothing new. Many parents make it a rule, and I bet their kids are better for it.
   
My friend Steve Smith, who writes a column for the Daily Pilot newspaper called Kids These Days, turned off the TV in his house in 1994. It hasn’t been on since, and he raised two children in the meantime.
   
“Turning off the TV has resulted in kids who read more, who interact with their parents even as teenagers and who do not have to have the latest gadget or clothes,” Smith says. “Would that have happened anyway? Perhaps, but parents only get one shot at raising their kids, and we did not want to take any chances.”
   
In fact, there is a national Turn Off the TV week coming up April 19-25, and I encourage you all to take part. I’m going to try to do the same – though I don’t know what I’ll do without my Sports Center highlights.

Tony Dodero is a longtime Orange County journalist and former editor of the Daily Pilot. Contact him at doderocommunications.com.

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