If indeed it requires the participation of an entire village to raise a child, then how many people does it take to merely switch off a television set?
The answer, according to a group of suburban parents and educators concerned about the increasingly negative role TV plays in the lives of young children, is the same-the whole community. They believe that with the average TV viewing time among children creeping up to five hours a day, it’s becoming tougher for individual parents to click off the remote control and, as Nancy Reagan would suggest, “Just Say No.”
So for 168 hours, from Thursday through next Wednesday, more than 3,200 children and their parents in Winnetka and Northfield have been asked to cope, in communal fashion, without their daily doses of the violence-prone but popular Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
No Lamb Chop, Seinfeld, Letterman or Leno, either.
And don’t even ask about MacNeil/Lehrer.
Instead, schools, community groups and merchants are sponsoring activities that include games, contests and a winter carnival.
But to some kids, the offer of free cocoa and cookies may not be enough.
“My brother just has to watch TV every night. He’d probably get sick if he didn’t,” warned Joseph Kim, a 5th grader at the North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka.
“He loves the Power Rangers and says it taught him how to do karate,” added Joseph, who is participating in the weeklong TV Tune Out, sponsored by the Winnetka Alliance for Early Childhood.
Joseph says the Tune Out won’t make a huge difference in his own routine, because he watches only about five hours of television a week.
What makes the Winnetka-Northfield TV Tune Out different from many others that have been attempted across the country in recent years is that young children-from birth through the 5th grade-are the focus group. (If teenagers feel like tuning out, they’re welcome to join.)
Another factor is that this TV-free zone encompasses two affluent North Shore communities in which television sets have become a standard part of children’s bedroom furniture, and where the family den or rec room often features a wide-screen family entertainment center.
“Hunter was not a happy camper this morning,” Debbie Morton of Northfield sighed, referring to her 5-year-old son, whom she brought to the Book Stall in Winnetka on Thursday for a story-telling circle in place of his normal activity-watching “Gumby” on TV.
Aside from the busy schedule of fun activities planned, the goal of the weeklong TV Tune Out is all business: to help families better understand a powerful medium that for more than a generation has often served as baby-sitter, friend and, in the worst cases, surrogate parent.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says the typical American child is exposed to an average of 28 hours of television a week and will watch 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on TV before entering high school.
“We want to promote a feeling of community support that we’re all in this together,” said Blakely Bundy, executive director of the Winnetka Alliance for Early Childhood. “Without attacking TV or making families feel guilty about watching, the Tune Out is a chance to step back, even for people who consider themselves selective about the quality and quantity of TV in their household, and to take a fresh look.”
Still, not everyone is sold on the idea. To these cynics, the idea of a TV Tune Out is too much like a stunt, a sound bite or publicity promotion just as shallow as some of the mindless television programming under attack.
“The idea that you can solve the problem by turning off the TV set misses the mark and has no impact on the industry,” said Jeff Chester of the Center for Media Education in Washington, D.C.
“You have to take the next step, which is to get rules enacted that force broadcasters to provide better programming that uplifts, enriches and limits the gratuitous violence.”
Chester, who is executive director of the non-profit group, said more children than ever will soon be attracted to the evolving interactive information superhighway.
“The real goal should not be to block out the impact of television on children,” Chester said, “but how to use it wisely.”
Congress may be considering such a step. A bill to ban excessively violent programs on television for most of the day and into prime time was introduced Thursday by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who said there was convincing evidence that TV violence contributed to violence in society, and that voluntary restraints by the television industry were not effective.
Conrad’s bill would require the Federal Communications Commission to prohibit broadcasts of programs with gratuitous violence between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children are most likely to watch.
Jeanne Beckman, a clinical psychologist who will operate a TV Tune Out Hot Line for families who need help as they attempt to go cold turkey, agrees.
Beckman said it’s too easy for parents to lose touch with the impact of specific programs, even the controversial Power Rangers, which has been banned from the airwaves in Canada and Norway.
“I’ve heard parents say, `It’s a children’s program, so it must be OK.’ I, myself, was really surprised by the constant karate chops and the stories without plots or rationale,” Beckman said. “Where are the skills to resolve conflict?
“But Power Rangers has made a contribution by serving as a wakeup call to parents. . . . It’s our hope that through TV Tune Out, parents will feel the support that it is OK to take back the control of their children,” Beckman added.
Muffy Lewis disagrees. The Northfield resident said her 5-year-old son, Sam, “is addicted to Power Rangers and I’m letting him decide.
“I like it, too,” she added. “It’s the only show he watches, and it’s not any more violent than `The Three Stooges,’ so why deprive him?”
On the first day of the Tune Out, a number of children said they looked forward to reading and exercising more; and several parents indicated they’ll re-examine the impact on their kids of the broadcast industry’s obsession with violence, drugs, alcohol and sexuality.
Tony Collins, 10, said he used to watch a lot of TV, before he discovered that reading allowed him to use his imagination more.
“Even though I’m a Trekkie, switching the TV off has turned me from being brain dead into being revived,” Tony said.
He added, however, that he thinks he’s the exception to the rule. For example, at a friend’s house, the number of a TV home-shopping show is permanently stored in the telephone’s memory bank.
“It’s really sick,” Tony concluded.
