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April 23 - 29, 2007 is one of our favorite weeks at Girl Power! because it is a time when we can slow down, turn off the TV, and tune in to what is going on in our lives! The cool thing is that everybody everywhere is encouraged to turn off his or her TV that week, too!
TV-Turnoff Week was started in 1994 by a nonprofit group called TV-Turnoff Network, which believed that we all can determine the role the media has in our lives. They thought everyone should to stop waiting for others to make "better" TV; instead, we should turn it off and reclaim time for our friends, families, and ourselves.
Why turn off the TV and do other things with your time?
- When we watch a lot of TV, we are pretty inactive (also known as being sedentary), and being inactive isn't good for our health. In fact, researchers have found that having a sedentary lifestyle might put us at risk for health problems later in life.
- There is a lot of violence on TV. We don't normally see the same amount or kind of violence in real life as we do on TV, but if we start to believe that what we see on TV is real, we might believe that there is a lot of violence in the world. People might imitate what they see on TV because they think that is the way real life is.
- The people we see on TV often lead unrealistic lives; for instance, the clothes they wear always match, their hair is never messed up, and they wear a lot of makeup so they look like they don't have any blemishes. Their houses are often much neater than most houses are in real life, and they have furniture that looks too good to be true. The bottom line is that TV is not a reflection of real life. When we watch a lot of TV, we start to think that our lives should match up to what we see, and that is not realistic. When our lives don't match what we see, we can become upset or disappointed or feel like we can never be as cool as others. Remember, what we see on TV is not real. Take a break from those images and pay attention to real life. You will be amazed at how precious real life is!
What can you do without TV?
Believe it or not, there are tons of things you can do besides watching TV. Check out some ideas from the TV Turnoff Network. Here are a few that we also thought of:
| Go for a walk or hike. |
Read a good book or magazine. |
| Help prepare a meal with your parents. |
Ask your parents what life was like when they were your age. |
| Help your parents in the garden. |
Lay birdseed out in the lawn and watch the birds that come and eat. |
| Write a letter to a friend or family member. |
Help younger kids or siblings build a fort. |
| Dance. |
Learn how to play a musical instrument. |
| Write a poem. |
Call a grandparent. |
| Go for a bike ride. |
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You can use these awesome Girl Power! activity guides if you get stuck with nothing to do and are tempted to turn on the TV: http://www.girlpower.gov/girlarea/activity/index.htm
For More Information:
TV-Turnoff Network
http://www.tvturnoff.org/.
1Facts and Figures About Our TV Habit
http://www.tvturnoff.org/images/facts&figs/factsheets/Facts and Figures.pdf
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