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I came
home from work one afternoon to find my 12-year-old son chipping
away at our full-frost freezer which was
We Crawled Out of the Box:
The Twelve Steps to Ending TV Addiction
By Sara Eisen,
Teen Center Director
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In Good Housekeeping late
last year, Peggy Noonan wrote an article bemoaning the level
of TV addiction in our nation. She found herself, however,
unable to pull the plug -- mostly because she couldn't stand
the thought of missing her favorite shows. She requested
a 12-step program to help her -- and other families pull
the plug.
Peggy, here it is.
1. We admitted that we were powerless over our lifeless
potato bodies when faced with a choice between watching
people do things -- or actually doing them ourselves.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than Regis Philbin
could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn the remote control over to the
care of our spouse, who is thrilled.
4. Made a searching and fearless trip to the scale after
consuming a pint of cookies and cream in front of The Practice.
5. Admitted to our dog, to ourselves and to our children
that we watched Jerry Springer when no one was home.
6. Were entirely ready to have our spouse cancel cable.
7. Humbly asked him/her not to, though, you know, for the
Discovery channel. (Request refused.)
8. Made a list of all books we had not read, and became
willing to not see the made-for-TV versions of those we
had.
9. Read those books, except when to do so would be even
more insulting to our intelligence than TV.
10. Continued to consume a pint of cookies and cream, though
admittedly while reading a book.
11. Sought through meditation to improve our contact with
Dylan McDermott. (We missed him, OK?)
12. Having read a few books as a result of these Steps,
we tried to carry this message to our children, but they
were watching TV.
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so
overloaded with ice that we couldn't fit another package of anything
in it. My son was going at the ice with gusto, banging with an
assortment of implements -- a screwdriver, a can opener and a
corkscrew. He was happy. The floor was a mess, there was ice and
water everywhere, but for the first time in weeks, there was room
in the freezer.
Another day I found my eight-year-old
washing windows with the window cleaner. Every window and mirror
in the house.
My four-year-old loves to do dishes.
What is the secret of my kids' industry
and initiative?
TV.
We don't have one.
We don't have a video either.
TV-less Kids = Creative Kids
My kids are forced to create their
own entertainment. Now you
may not think that cleaning windows and mirrors or defrosting
a refrigerator are entertaining, but my kids do.
My kids also make bracelets from
glue they've dried and rolled on their hands. They make necklaces
from cereal. They bake brownies, put on plays, play darts, punch
a punching bag, ride their bikes, fight and argue like other kids,
peel carrots, scramble eggs, and write on themselves.
I don't have to try to inspire their
creativity anymore. They come up with these activities by themselves.
What my kids don't do: recount the
plot of TV shows, put posters of their favorite TV stars on the
walls of their bedrooms, idolize move stars.
It's not that we're Puritans. We're
not trying to isolate them from the world. We read newspapers
and have magazines in the house; we even have a computer. But
we have found that the best way to allow them to be kids is to
get the box out of the house.
Now, many of you are saying to yourselves:
But I monitor their TV.
Good for you. I couldn't. I found
the TV too alluring, too irresistible. And not being good at setting
limits in the first place, I don't want something else I have
to monitor.
The box made them want to shop, grow
up, be a smart ass, be a wise guy, make fun of things. Dress in
cool clothes, be violent, have sex.
The kids still manage to see their
share of TV at other people's houses.
Now when I walk into a house and
see the kids in front of the TV, it looks to me like the kids
are on heroin. They are transfixed, quiet, drugged, lolled out
on the couch.
My household, on the other hand,
is usually noisy, wild and chaotic.
I must admit. TV is a temptation.
But I don't want to fill my kids
with the garbage in it.
And if I don't have anything to say
to the guys at work when they discuss last night's TV show, well…I
can just wink and say I was doing something more exciting…
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