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Free Ebook The Awful Truth About Television
The Awful Truth About Television is now available for free - no strings attached. Just right click on the link below and save your book.
This revolutionary book puts all of TV's negative effects into perspective. Download a copy for yourself and then pass it on to friends and family members who might benefit.
Download The Awful Truth About Television. Be careful. After reading this book, you will never be able to look at your TV set the same way again.
WHAT?!? GIVE UP MY TV?!?!
Giving up TV may sound preposterous at first. That little box in your home looks so innocent.
So entertaining.
So relaxing . . .
Unfortunately, a ever-growing body of scientific evidence indicates that TV viewing has become an unhealthy addiction for millions of people. Consider a few of the effects of society's TV addiction:
THE AVERAGE AMERICAN WATCHES OVER 4½ HOURS OF TELEVISION EVERY SINGLE DAY1
UPDATE 11/08: The most recent figure from Nielsen Media Research, Inc., is an astounding 4 hours 45 minutes per day. Add that up. That is over 33 hours per week (almost a second job!), almost 6 solid days per month, and more than two months per year. This is in addition to time spent surfing the internet and playing video games. Learn more about TV time.
Imagine what else you could do with all this time.
Learn basic strategies to control TV watching
Contrast the time spent watching TV with the next little fact:
THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD HAS A TV PLAYING FOR OVER 8 HOURS EVERY DAY2
Yet pundits are perplexed at the decline of the family. Eight hours every day with the TV playing does not leave much room for quality time with the whole family. The TV set has become a virtual third parent. How much better could families function if the TV was turned off for only a fraction of that time?
Learn more about TV and family time.
Are you starting to think getting rid of your TV may not be such a crazy idea after all? Maybe your waistline will convince you that your television set isn't so innocent. Consider this:
A PERSON WHO WATCHES 3 HOURS OF TV PER DAY IS TWICE AS LIKELY TO BE OBESE AS A PERSON WHO WATCHES ONLY AN HOUR PER DAY3
TWICE as likely! That is a significant correlation. Several studies have shown that men, women, AND children who watch more than three hours of TV per day are twice as likely to be obese. That is not surprising considering that the only activity that burns fewer calories is sleeping. Plus, what diet can withstand the onslaught of all those mouthwatering commercials? If you are seriously trying to lose weight, you may wish to consider losing that TV first. Learn more about TV and obesity.
Your valuable time and waistline are not the only victims of your TV. Consider this next little fact:
VIEWERS EXPOSED TO AN AVERAGE OF OVER 50,000 TV COMMERCIALS PER YEAR
Estimates for the amount of time commercials air on TV range from 15 minutes per hour to 18 minutes per hour. This means that a person watching the US national average of 4:45 minutes of TV per day is watching between 52,012 and 62,415 30-second commercials per year.
This creates special problems for parents of children who watch these commercials. The advertising industry calls it the "Nag Factor".
Marketers specifically target children (who can't tell fact from fiction from cheap advertising) to get them to nag parents incessantly for their products. If you don't have kids yourself, you've probably at least witnessed the "nag factor" at work at your local store. How much is the "nag factor" worth?
THE "NAG FACTOR" INFLUENCES $300 BILLION IN SALES PER YEAR5
In 2001, the "Nag Factor" influenced an estimated $300 billion in sales. That amounts to over $4,000 per pestering child per year. Who knows how much more money was spent on the subsequent sales of headache relievers! Learn more about nagging and the cost of TV.
That TV box is not looking so innocent any more, is it? Another little fact to consider:
CHILDREN WITNESS 14,000 SEXUAL REFERENCES ON TV YEARLY6
This may encourage teens to experiment sexually. What's worse is that those figures have been climbing. In the last 8 years sexual references on TV have doubled. Learn more about TV and sexual content.
CHILDREN WITNESS 16,000 TV MURDERS BY AGE 187
16,000 murders on average. Plus, they witness 200,000 violent TV acts during that time frame. This violence has serious, long-term effects:
LONG TERM STUDY SHOWS THAT VIEWING TV VIOLENCE CAUSES AGGRESSION LATER IN LIFE8
According to one long term study by Dr. Leonard D. Eron, watching television violence at age 8 was the strongest predictor of aggression later in life--stronger even than exhibiting violent behavior as children. A second, 15-year study reached similar conclusions. Even if you are an otherwise ideal parent, by allowing your children to watch violent television, you may be unwittingly setting them up for a violent future. Learn more about TV and violence.
Perhaps you believe a v-chip and careful monitoring will be enough. If you are going to allow your children to watch TV, keep a firm control over the content they watch. However, there are still other problems which are not related to content. They are integral to medium of TV. Another fact:
STUDY SHOWS THAT TOO MUCH TV AT AGES 1 & 3 RESULTS IN ADHD SYMPTOMS AT AGE 79
"TV rots your brain" is not just an urban legend. It is especially damaging for developing brains. It is linked with symptoms of ADHD in young children. Because of the risks, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of two should not watch any TV.
Plus, many parents have noted that children just do not behave as well after they have been watching TV (although they may be perfect, angelic zombies while the TV is on).
On top of that, television puts the brains of children and adults in a very suggestible, hypnotic, alpha brain wave state for 4½ hours per day. This is simply not good for you, although it may be good for marketers, as noted above. Learn more about TV effects on your brain.
Convinced your TV is harmful yet? It is not just individuals and families who are affected by TV. The entire society suffers from TV's malicious effects.
MORE TV = LESS COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, SAYS STUDY10
The more time viewers spend watching TV, the less time they spend doing community activities. Not only are pundits perplexed about the decline of the family, they are dumbfounded by the collapse of the community. At best they ascribe it to a mysterious malaise called "modern life".
America used to be known for its active citizenry. The tendency is still there, but the time required to be engaged with the community is being sucked up by all those TV sets across the nation. It's time to declare our independence from our TV sets and rebuild or lives, our families, and our communities. Learn more about TV, community, and democracy.
Of course, an informed citizenry is equally necessary to a healthy democracy. American's main source of information, TV news, is contaminated.
VNR's CONTAMINATE AIRWAVES WITH FAKE NEWS11
Think you can trust what you see on the TV news? Think again. VNR's, or video news releases, are propaganda pieces that are produced by governments, corporations, and others. They are designed to look like authentic independent news stories. TV stations often broadcast these pieces without disclosing their source. Learn more about TV and news.
Are you ready to trash your TV yet? Perhaps you want to, but you just can't imagine life without it. There is a reason for that:
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN STUDY SHOWS: TV VIEWING IS ADDICTIVE12
This is the clincher: A Scientific American article showed that television is addictive. Why else would we trade our family time, our health, and our hard earned money for something that humanity has survived without for hundreds of thousands of years?
Many people who encourage others to watch less TV fail to take addiction into account. It is not enough to say "Turn it off!" Many people need help getting in control of their watching. They certainly need to understand that TV's addictive effects may undermine any attempts to control their TV watching. Learn more about TV addiction
Last, but not least...
YOUR TELEVISION SET IS TOXIC WASTE13
The cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in computer monitors, television sets, and similar video display devices contain significant concentrations of lead and other heavy metals. Earth 911 has a database of recycling centers which can handle television waste. Find a place near you to dispose of your old television set properly.
THE GOOD NEWS
The good news is that once you get in control of your TV watching, not only can you begin to fix many of the problems listed above, you and your family have up to 4½ extra hours every day. What could you do with 4½ extra hours each and every day for the rest of your life? Get in shape? Spend more time with your family? Start a new business? By getting in control of the time you watch TV, you not only conquer the negative effects of TV, you can actually build a better life for yourself...a TV-FREE life.
HOW can you get in control of your TV?
The TV-FREE System is designed to help individuals and families overcome TV's addictive effects. Based on you and your family's situation and interests, it outlines a comprehensive method to get you in control of the time you watch TV. Now that you know the truth about that innocent-looking box, start your TV-FREE life today.
If you have wanted to cut back on the time you watch TV and devote this time to other meaningful goals and activities, The TV-FREE System is for you. Imagine the life you could build with 4½ hours each and every day.
Top 10 Alternatives to Watching Television
| Family Fun Finder! |
Click on the button below to randomly select a fun activity to do. |
2. Have a Family Game Night.
3. Play sports.
4. Read a book.
5. Go for a walk or hike.
6. Dance.
7. Grow a garden.
8. Host party for friends and neighbors.
9. Exercise.
10.Go fishing.
More fun Alternatives
What's New at Trash Your TV!
Recent Interviews:
New Section Teacher Resources
Contains free worksheets for teachers, homeschoolers, and parents.
New Articles:
NEW! Fighting over the TV Remote Control: Is it a life or death issue in your household? by Katherine Westphal
A story about a deadly dispute over a TV remote highlights TV's strange ability to make people bicker and fight.
How much TV do you really watch? by Katherine Westphal
Most people think they do not watch that much TV. Studies say otherwise. Are you watching more TV than you realize?
Life is just better...Trash Your TV.
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