Every Monday Matters - Wk 2

Monday #2 Challenge
(Facts and text taken from the book.)

FACTS
* 99% of all homes in the U.S. have at least one TV—50% have three or more.
* 68% of all 8- to 18-year olds have a TV in their bedroom and 49% have a video game player there as well.
* A person watches TV an average of 40 days per year.
* Children spend nearly 2,000 hours a year in front of a TV, playing on the computer, and playing video games, compared to 900 hours in school.
* 200,000 violent acts, including 16,000 murders, will be seen on TV by a child before their 18th birthday.
* Roughly 70% of all shows include some sexual content, with an average of five sexual scenes per hour.
* 57% of parents admit to having some degree of difficulty in getting their teens involved in meaningful conversations; and, 74% of parents are not sure their teens are even listening when they talk.

TAKE ACTION
* Turn off your TV today. Tape the “No TV” sign to all TV screens so that you don’t turn it on out of habit.
* Designate certain TV-free times throughout the week to reduce viewing hours.
* Remove TVs from bedrooms, the kitchen, etc.
* Make a list of activities to do besides watching TV―activities like reading, biking, swimming, walking, gardening, or socializing with friends. Then start doing them.
* Avoid using TV as a reward―this only increases its power.
* Be more selective about programming―choose history, travel, cooking, home repair/design, and other educational themes.

YOU MATTER
70% of people say that no matter how hard they try, they never seem to have enough time to do everything they need to do. Are you part of that 70%? If you gave up TV for just one day a week, you could exercise the recommended weekly amount necessary for healthy living, read over 20 books a year, or spend more time with your loved ones. Instead of watching reruns of Friends, go make some.

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I turned off the TV today.  The same TV that only gets left on in the daytime for background noise.  Yep, that's right.  I only did it to save electricity.  TV is not my vice.  Sadly, it's the computer.  I tried hard to turn that off today too.  I succeeded.  I failed.  I succeeded. I failed.  This is something that I have to work at daily.  I am glad though that I don't have the TV  AND the computer as issues in our house.