Turning Off the Television

By Rick Baron

Printed in the Family Post: Spring Issue 2008

My wife and I moved up to Nevada City four years ago. Like many of you, we wanted to escape the big city to get away from all the crime and “life in the fast lane” as they say. We wanted a simpler life with people who had strong moral values. A chance to let our kids grow up in what appeared to be a modern day Mayberry. So when the opportunity arose we sold our home in Newport Beach and moved to Nevada City. We loved the area and the people, and our new life had begun.

However, after six months or so I noticed an underlying stress level that continued to thrive in our family. We had fallen back into our old habits. And one of the biggest influences was TV. Sure, we moved to Nevada City to get away from it all but there was one problem. IT was being beamed directly into my living room every night. The endless barrage of violent TV shows. Then I started noticing how all the news shows showed the same fear based programming repeatedly. I found myself sitting on the couch night after night switching through TV channels. At times I felt truly hypnotized and helpless to stop looking for some sort of entertainment. My wife and her mom, being from Brazil, had a satellite that would beam TV Brazil directly into my mother-in-law’s room. She would watch TV all night, every night. In fact, she would sleep with the TV on. The box had consumed her too.

And even worse, we were letting our two beautiful innocent daughters watch mindless children’s shows. The TV commercials really started making me mad. They were turning my children into consumers. There was an endless request for toys and cereals that contained toys. Fast food companies were pushing plastic toys at our kids. So after much talk and consideration we cut the cable.

It was March 2005. At first we really had TV withdraws. What do we do? Suddenly we had a lot of time on our hands. When our kids came home from preschool we would usually put on a DVD movie and let them glaze over. After a couple of weeks of no television I started noticing my children playing together, building forts, drawing, making art projects, practicing school work, and playing outside. And over the next year, they started playing music, and Olivia became infatuated with books. Before we turned off the TV, she would not touch a book.

My wife and I started reading a lot more. Then she joined an Italian group that meets once a month. She started working out at the gym on a daily basis. And just recently she started making jewelry again. It is incredible the change in her personal habits since the box went off. The same has been true of my mother-in-law. At first, my wife insisted that we still needed the Brazilian TV for her because it is was all she had as a reminder of her country. But I held fast and we waited. Sure enough, it started with her sewing. I knew she was a seamstress, but I didn’t know the extent of her talents. Then she started reading books. Then she really blew me away when she became a Buddhist. She has a great group of friends that meets weekly and she just recently went through confirmation.

As for me, it was like coming out of a long, dark fog. I was hypnotized. I became ultra sensitive to violence. We still had a DVD player with a monitor for watching the occasional movie, and I got to the point that I could not stomach the sight of another car blowing up, or another dead body on the side of the road. Not only were the shows violent but also they were also just plain stupid. Mindless violence. And it was then I really started to understand how the networks are pumping violence at us day and night. Is this what we the people want? I asked a friend why he let his six year old watch Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. After all those shows are rated PG-13. The response I got was “Well, it doesn’t bother him.” And that’s my point. It should bother him, but he has seen so many violent acts on TV and video games that it just doesn’t affect him at all anymore.

So my question is, do you want your family desensitized towards violence? We recently flew on a plane. It was United Airways. I remember looking up at the monitor as they showed a preview for an R-rated movie staring Denzel Washington. In the preview he picked up a shovel and hit a man in the face. I looked over in horror at my daughter’s face. I literally had to put my hands over her eyes. She asked my wife and me over and over why the man was hurting the other man. That’s a great question. Why?

So, what can you do? April April 21st- 27th is National TV Turn Off Week. Take the challenge and turn off your TV for one week and watch the changes in your family.

For more information go to: http://www.screentime.org/blog/ http://ceplacer.ucdavis.edu/Custom_Program/

Rick Baron and his wife, Andrea, mother-inlaw Elba, twin daughters, Bianca and Olivia, moved to Nevada City almost five years ago. They enjoy skiing, hiking, boating, camping, creating art and playing together. Rick Baron is an avid musician whose favorite past time is playing music with all the new friends he has met in the area.