Clever Currents: I Really Think: We Should All Bravely Say No to TV

I am considering coming out of the closet. For decades, I have been afraid to voice my strongest feelings about the effects of TV on our society. My style is to be a consensus builder, and when that is your goal, it pays to be able to understand (and to some extent, support) both sides of a debate. And so for years I have been repeating some version of “Too much TV is never good, but there are some very high quality programs. I do understand that today’s parents need (1) to allow their kids to experience TV in order to be part of the culture, and (2) a break – a way to have their child fully engaged by something else – so that they can have some time to concentrate on their own lives.” All of this is true. But the statement is a polite version of what I really think. TV is a very addictive bad habit. Like watching a friend struggle with a drug or drinking problem, I see people of all ages who watch too much TV and they are: in a bad mood when they don’t get enough, incapable of imagining life without TV, and in denial about the toll TV is taking on their physical and mental health.

The surprising part of my temptation to speak more freely about my significant opposition to TV-watching is that it came from a small button produced by a big company. “Turn Off TV. Turn On Life. Kaiser Permanente®.” Last Thursday, I was seated next to a Kaiser executive at a breakfast program featuring Tom and Kate Chappell, founders of Tom’s of Maine. As I took in the button, with a background photo of kids playing outdoors, I did a double-take. This is brave, I thought. While you are not surprised when you see a preaching-to-the-choir “Kill Your TV” sticker on a ’64 VW Bus in a national park, you don’t often see a successful big business in our consumer society taking such clear aim at the backbone of our advertising-driven culture. Clearly, they have their motives, and they can’t be completely altruistic, but that’s OK with me. If Kaiser has decided that their business is more profitable if people watch less TV and improve their physical health, more power to them for addressing the topic head-on.

My internal dialogue was further stimulated by Tom and Kate’s very inspiring talk about using your own personal values as a guide in business. It is no accident that my team and I spend our energy creating magazines for today’s kids. We believe reading is THE core skill that children should have, and that in a media culture increasingly dominated by electronic fare, we want to develop printed materials better suited to compete for the attention of today’s child. It’s no accident that we don’t accept advertising. We know that children get too many marketing messages already, and that in their formative years, they cannot distinguish between ad and non-ad content. We already try very hard to make business decisions based on our values. But I have avoided discussing, even with my team, my personal belief that TV is a very bad way to spend your time. For me, the topic is like religion or politics – I just don’t want to go there.

I am not quite sure where my newfound courage to speak out will take me. I will start with this piece of advice: Use TV with the strongest degree of moderation. I am talking about two hours per week, and not on school nights. I do believe that young kids need to understand what TV is, and completely avoiding TV leaves them more vulnerable to its allure when they are old enough to make their own decisions. By limiting yourself to two shows per week, your family will be more critical in making TV-watching decisions. Take a hard look at the examples you are setting. Children mimic their parents. By having a “favorite show” every Thursday that becomes a highlight activity, you are helping your child begin a similar relationship with TV as their main source of fun. Yes, TV is very engaging and entertaining, the producers of TV are masters of capturing your mind. That’s how they sell ads. With the advent of today’s DVRs, they know you are skipping the ads, and that’s why they sell product placements. The question is “What is your mind doing while it’s in captivity?” Not much.

Years ago, I attended a lecture by Lorrie Moore, author of Birds of America and professor of English at the University of Wisconsin. She was commenting on whether she felt there was such a thing as quality television. She began her response by recognizing that there is a qualitative difference between a sitcom and a well-researched documentary. What she said next has stayed with me ever since: A TV program, good or bad, continues on, exactly as designed, with or without the viewer. A book requires your participation and understanding – it cannot proceed without an engaged mind choosing to read it. I am sure her words expressed this idea even better, but I hope you get the point.

P.S. I checked out the Kaiser TV Turnoff website and their downloadable Screen-time Reduction Toolkit. I am impressed by the significant resources that went into these well thought out materials. Just when I thought I could lump all healthcare industry players into a bucket of “companies I don’t respect,” I have to say that Kaiser seems to have something else going on. I have worked for big companies, and I know how hard it is to get budget and buy-off for “non-core” projects. I salute the people within the big organization who steer a portion of resources to projects like TV Turnoff.