A Little Experiment

Right now it is NO TV WEEK at our house. It has been interesting and good and thought provoking (I'll share more on this when our experiment is complete). Since we've started I found this quote and boy is it good and once again thought provoking.

"Who is the most important person in your home? How do you tell who is important? Is it the person who earns the most? Is it the person who has the best room? Is it the person you love the most? Is it the one who gives you the most of his or her time? Who is the most important person in your home? You might say, “Everybody is important in our home.” I wonder if that’s really true.

Let me ask you another question. How is the TV treated in your home? Does it have its own room? What about the computer? Do you like it better than your brother? How about your mother? Do you like it better than your great-grandfather? Or your children? Does it get much rest?* Do your parents spend more time with it than they do with you? Do you spend more time with it than your children? Do they spend more money on it than they do on you?

Do you follow the TV’s opinions more than your parents’ ideas? Does it tell you what to eat for breakfast? Does it come to dinner? Often? When it does, does it get the best seat? Do you have to keep quiet when it is talking? Does it ever cause fights in your house? Do you ever get sent downstairs when it does? Who’s the boss in your family? Is it the TV? Does it tell you when to get up and when to go to school? Does it tell you what to do? How about on Saturday morning? Does it tell you what to do then? Does it tell you when to go out and play? Does it talk during prayers? Does it tell the home teachers when it’s time to go? Does it ever keep you from going to church?

How about on Super Bowl Sunday?

Is the computer your best friend? Would you be lonely without it? Would you cry if it broke? Would you miss it more than your brother? If your house were on fire and you could save one thing, would you save the TV? What if you could only save two things? Could you live without TV for a week? How about a month? Who is your favorite teacher? Is it the TV? Do you like TV better than Mutual? How about Sunday School? Does TV teach the same things as your Sunday School teacher? Does it teach different things? Does TV agree with your Sunday School teacher? Who is right?

Does TV make you want things you don’t have? Does this make you happy? Does it ever make you mad at your parents? What about when they won’t buy you something you have seen on TV? Who do you want to be like when you grow up? Does TV always tell the truth? Somebody once said TV was chewing gum for the eyes. You think about that" (F. Burton Howard, “A Question of Time,” New Era, Jul 2002, 38). Words in RED added.

So if your family is a tv watching family or if you are a tv watching parent I think these questions give a lot to think about. So maybe you'd like to join me in my experiment or a whole slew of others who take part. I just discovered that there are two official no tv watching weeks one coming up very soon , April 19-25 and the other September 19-25. And of course we can always hold a TV week whenever we so desire.

So I really can't wait to turn on the tv this weekend :). Whoo-hoo, no tv week will be over. The tv will be on at our house for a good 8 hours and I am excited to be a full on couch potato for all 8 of them. Join me in this tv watching marathon whether it is at your stake center or on your couch because General Conference is going to be good. If you are in Utah you can watch Conference on channel 5 or you can watch it online HERE.

How do you regulate TV time at your house?