Top Five Reasons to Get Rid of Your Television

I confess I'm a partisan. I got rid of my television years ago, and being without television has done nothing but enrich my life. I'm healthier, more fit, I have more friends, I get more sleep which makes me more productive at work, and I have time to explore hobbies and interests I never got around to before. My kids broke the television habit, too, and became more creative in using their time. I believe getting rid of your television is one of the simplest changes you can make to change your life and improve your health.

1. Television is eating precious hours of your life.

There's a whole world out there for you to live. Do you ever feel, when you plop yourself down in that comfy chair and pick up the television remote, that life is passing you by? Do you feel regret at all the things you wanted to do in your life but have never gotten around to? Get rid of your television and get a life!

I got rid of my television at age 39. Within the next year I did something I'd always wanted to do: I learned to rock climb. I overcame my self-consciousness at being out of shape, I pretended not to be intimidated by the physical fitness of the kids at the climbing gym, I forced myself not to think of how my rear end looked to people forty feet below me, and I started to rock climb. I introduced my kids to a sport we now share. Rock climbing has brought me wonderful new friends and given me a new, healthier life in which I enjoy sunshine dappling my face through cool green leaves and fall asleep under the stars on cliffs to the sound of birds and crickets. Now, granted, that may not be your idea of fun. But what have you always wanted to do? Do you want to write a novel? Do you want to learn to knit? Do you want to build beautiful scrapbooks from your boxes of old photos? Have a game night with your kids? Imagine what you could do with an extra two to four hours every night of your life! Imagine it, and then do it. Just get rid of that television.

2. Many television shows are available on the internet.

Visit the network website that hosts your favorite show. With a high-speed internet connection you can view Lost, Grey's Anatomy, clips from the Daily Show or the evening news. Not only that, but the variety of video entertainment available online is much wider than what even the most luxurious cable package offers you. Take a second to google Alanis Morissette doing a video cover of the ridiculous Black Eyed Peas song "My Humps." Hilarious! Are you interested in the potential for bird flu pandemic? On the BBC you can view three in-depth programs on bird flu, at your own pace. Do you want to find kids programming that aligns with your values and religious beliefs? Whatever your interests, if you like to watch it in video, it's out there.

But beware. Don't get rid of your television only to pick up the habit of chronic web surfing!

3. Want to veg out? There are better ways than television!

When I suggest to people that they get rid of their television, one of the most common excuses I hear is "But I just want to relax and not think about anything. Television gives me that escape." The next most common is that it relaxes the kids and keeps them out of mischief. It's true, television is a passive activity that demands nothing from the participant. The problem is that television induces a trance that is difficult to break out of. Have you ever plopped into your chair to watch one show, and suddenly looked up to find it's time for bed? And in those lost hours, did you actually learn anything new, that will improve your life?

There are other ways to relax. For example, you could build a habit of going to sleep an hour earlier. Sleep deprivation is linked to weight gain and mental slowness, and most of us (particularly women) are chronically sleep deprived. You can also learn Tai Chi or yoga, which can be practiced to relax your body physically as well as mentally, and give added benefits such as lowered blood pressure, muscle tone, reduced stress and greater self-esteem. You can spend more time reading, as well. All those home repairs you've been putting off? Spend a few weeks reading home repair how-to manuals, and then a couple of hours each night ticking them off your list. I have found one of the most relaxing benefits of getting rid of my television has been simply having time to plan, think, and take care of business. Want to know a great way to reduce your stress? Take those television viewing hours to get your taxes done in January!

4. Keep the television for watching videos.

By getting rid of television, I mean getting rid of the content piped to you daily through cable or satellite, or more rarely now by local broadcast signals. You can keep the television and CD player (I have), and use them to watch movies on video or to play music through that fancy home theater if you were so fortunate. You can buy used movies for $5 to $10 dollars each, rent them locally or online (Netflix is cost-effective if you're prompt about sending them back), check them out from the library, or borrow from friends. Having a selection of really great kids movies gives you the benefit of being able to entertain the kids while you do chores, without exposing them to commercials or potentially unhealthy aspects of popular culture. Getting rid of the television puts you in control of what enters your home.

5. Your kids will thank you for getting rid of your television.

No, not now, of course, and not soon. For the time being they'll wine and complain and call you a bad parent for depriving them of their inalienable right to stare into a tube for several hours a day. They'll pester you with their boredom, and you'll be at wits end to find them something more interesting to do than veg in front of the TV. Don't give in; you know best. Take the $30-$50 you're spending on television now and invest it in their college savings fund. Just fifty dollars monthly at a modest 6% interest will become almost $15,000 in 15 years. That's tuition, fees and books for a couple of years of college for your kids, just by getting rid of your television.

There's more. Get rid of your television, and suddenly your kids are free of the impersonal peer pressure that television exerts. No more is television telling your child that all the cool kids get drunk and have sex, that the best way to deal with conflict is a punch in the face or a shot to the gut, that without Bratz and Air Jordans and Super-Sugar-Smacko Puffs they're outsiders. Sure, kids still experience peer pressure at school, but there's no need to undermine your influence as a parent, nightly, in your own home.

Kids who watch a lot of television from ages 5 through 15 are more likely by their mid-twenties already to have high cholesterol and to be obese, according to a study by Dr. Robert Hancox reported in the Lancet in 2004, even if they have stopped watching television. This is only one of many studies linking television viewing in kids with lifelong health problems.

Be honest. You can say you'll cut down, ration yourself or your child to a few hours per week. Many people follow through on those resolutions, but many more do not. Get rid of your television and take the temptation away. Your kids will thank you (well, they will ten years from now, anyway), and you'll discover a whole world beyond the seduction of your comfy chair and television remote.