National TV Turn-Off Week: A Dumb Idea
In a time when millions of people are starving each year and thousands
are killed in war zones, worrying about how much television we watch sounds like
a stupid idea. Right? Well, that’s what people all across North America are
doing every day. In fact, there is a full week dedicated to the cause:
National T. V-Turnoff Week.
National T. V-Turnoff week is nothing more then a cry for attention by
the middle class. The lower classes have their problems: starvation, health,
shelter. You know, no big deal. But what of the middle class? They have no
problems. They have a house, a job, usually a loving family. What don’t they
have? What they don’t have is something to worry about. So, along comes Linda
Weltner and National T. V-Turnoff Week. Problem solved. The middle class now
has something to worry about.
For years people have been watching television and no complaints have
been made. No complaints about the endless information that comes from
television. No complaints about the hours of entertainment that television has
brought to people for years. But now people complain that we, as a people, are
watching too much T. V. They would have you believe that we could be doing
better things with our lives. They would have you believe that we can make more
out of ourselves. But what do they know? Have they ever done any research to
prove their theories? No, they haven’t. But the people behind such propaganda
as National T. V-Turnoff Week really do believe that not watching television can
enhance your life, so let us examine their reasoning.
Linda Weltner suggests that instead of watching television one can take
up a craft such a knitting. Sure knitting is a good hobby. Entertaining,
enjoyable, it might even relieve stress. But when it comes down to it what do
you really get out of knitting that you wouldn’t get out of watching television?
A sweater, maybe? Sure, you might just knit a sweater that you could wear on the
odd occasion, but is that worth the price of not being in touch with the world?
Not to the average person in this world and time. In this age of beepers, cell-
phones, and the Internet, being out of touch for just a minute could change your
life drastically. And, besides, why can’t you watch television while you knit?
As for the people that say television warps a young mind, I have a
personal beef against that reasoning. Coming over to Canada as a little
immigrant child, not speaking a word of English, I was outcast by society. I
had troubles at school, I could not speak to my friends. What’s a boy to do?
Teachers tried to help me, my parents tried to help me but nothing helped. So I
did the only thing I could, I began to watch television. Slowly, over the next
few months I began to learn the language. Within a year, my vocabulary skills
were up there with the rest of my class and now, due to my devotion to the
television and my refusal to give it up like so many of my peers, I am well
skilled in the English language and most people would never guess that English
was not my first language.
So, there you have it. Television can educate, entertain, and broaden
your horizons. What’s more, it can be done in combination with many other
hobbies and is relatively inexpensive. From educating our children to baby-
sitting them when we are just too tired to cope, the television has done so much
for us. So why, I repeat, why should we betray our dear friend by turning it
off for a full week?
