It’s Time To Pull The Plug On Television, Group Says Take A Week Off, Campaign Urges Parents And Children Across Nation

Jennifer Olson doesn’t want her two young sons to watch more than seven hours of television a week. So she uses economic incentives.

Every Sunday, she gives 14 tokens to Brock, 7, and Jacob, 4. They hand back one token for every half-hour they watch. She gives them a quarter for every token they haven’t used at week’s end.

Instead of watching TV, Brock and Jacob read, work with papier-mache or play with building blocks. The scheme has other benefits, too.

“Brock thinks it’s a great way to raise money,” said Olson, a Spokane resident who works part-time at The Children’s Corner Book Shop in downtown Spokane.

But Brock may soon suffer a temporary economic setback. His mom is supporting a national campaign to designate April 24-30 as National TV-Turnoff Week. At the Olson residence, that will mean no television, period. And no tokens.

Going without television during the last week of April will help people lead healthier, more productive lives, according to TV-Free America, a Washington, D.C., group founded in 1994.

The group has mailed posters to more than 8,000 schools and 4,000 church groups nationwide in the hopes that 3 million Americans will lay down their remote controls. More than 1 million participated in the first turnoff week last year, said Henry Labalme, the group’s co-founder and executive director.

“People aren’t interacting or talking with one another,” Labalme said at a news conference Wednesday. “People are retreating to their own separate rooms and watching it there.”

The average American watches more than four hours of television a day, according to Nielsen Media Research. By the time this average person turns 65, he or she will have stared at the tube for almost 11 years.

“I think many people in the television industry would agree that many Americans watch too much TV,” Labalme said.

Spokane’s television chiefs said they weren’t aware of the campaign, but agreed that moderation is a good thing.

“I think parents should spend more time hugging their kids and turn off the TV when they’re eating dinner,” said Barry Barth, president and general manager of KREM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Spokane. “The TV set shouldn’t be used as a way of dealing with important issues in a family.”

“My view as a parent and as the general manager of a TV station is that we should all be more discerning viewers,” said Lon Lee at KHQ-TV, the local NBC affiliate.

Labalme said watching videotapes “falls into the same kind of couch potato category’ as television. One local video retailer said he thinks the turnoff effort is a great idea, although he said most customers rent videos in moderation.

“Some people walk out with about eight videos, and I sort of say ‘wow!”’ said Scott Sonneborn, assistant manager at Hastings’ Shadle store. “But that’s a very small segment of the population.”

Among those lending their support to TV-Turnoff Week is a long list of educational groups, including the American Federation of Teachers.

Anne Fox, Idaho’s superintendent of schools, said students can learn more quickly if their parents do something with their children besides watch TV.

“Spending time reading, playing outdoors, and/or playing games, shows children there are other ways to entertain themselves that are also educational.”

Labalme said TV-Turnoff Week will focus attention on how much television people watch rather than on program content.

“Maybe you’ll miss a great show, but maybe you’ll make your own discovery instead of watching others on the Discovery Channel,” Labalme said.

While television can help children learn, too much viewing and too much on-screen violence might harm a child’s development, said Dr. Robert Phillips, deputy medical director of the American Psychiatric Association, which is supporting the campaign.

“The issue is not abstinence from television but rethinking our attitudes toward it,” Phillips said.

“My opinion is that TV is one of America’s last sacred cows,” said Bill London, a Moscow, Idaho, freelance writer who has never owned a television.

He recently taught a class in the University of Idaho’s Continuing Education Department on “How To Unplug Your Child From The Television.”

While people don’t mind discussing program quality and cutting down on viewing time, you can’t bring up the idea of not watching at all “and be taken seriously,” said London, who is promoting the turnoff week.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Cold turkey

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NATIONAL TV-TURNOFF WEEK For more information about National TV-Turnoff Week, call (202) 887-0436.