Turning Off TV

Guest

OK, I know I'm boring for talking about Television (You have a great book by the way), but this is about a television programme I watched which made me change my views about television and take greater interet into your campaign.

In the UK there is a programme called Wife Swap which often shows on Channel 4. The programme is a so called "reality TV" show where two completely different families swap their wives/mothers for two weeks. In the first week the wife must adopt to her new family's way of life, and in week two she must then change her new family to the way she would normally run things.

Anyway there was this one episode that really reached me, and I don't know whether what I felt was anger, shock, or disgust, but I felt that I needed to tell you what happened.

The first family was a family of eco-warriors, of husband wife and two daughters not older than five years old. They lived in a self sustained house and they did lots of things together, mainly outdoors, but the parents always had respect for their childrens opinions and needless to say the children were happy and never or rarely had a tantrum. Did I also mention that the family had no TV.

The second family was the complete opposite. It had A wife, husband and one daughter aged about 10. The family was the complete opposite of the eco-warriors, living to excess on a daily basis, and watching TV all night when they got in from their jobs/school etc. Every room in the house had a television. Even their child had one. The child regularly had tantrums.

Anyway by the time it got to week two, the wife from the "Excess" family decided that the eco-warriors needed to have a television, so the television was plugged in and the two eco kids were hooked immediately.

At the same time, the eco wife covered up and removed the televisions from the excess family. needless to say the remaining excess members were furious! There were arguments left right and centre because they couldn't watch television!

This is the bit that really rattled me! Back to the eco household. It was dinnertime, the television was still on in the background, kids still attached, and excess wife wanted to eat her dinner in peace, so she hastily went over to the TV and turned it off, the kids went ballistic (imagine a baby born with a drug addiction) one of them even said "I'll kill you!" over and over, eventually eco father had to intervene for the first time everin his life.

The above incident made me realise how such a useless device brought down the utopia which the eco family had created I couldn't believe it though when the eco's decided to keep the TV afterwards!!!

I'd really like to hear your opinions about this, or if you want me to explain anything further just send me a message.

Happy living

Paul

What are your opinions of that, it really scared me

Venturout · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:10 pm Post subject:

The above message was written by myself, if you need to get in contact my username is Venturout and not ventrout.

Cheers

Paul

justinwood · Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 3:34 am Post subject:

that is nearly depressing
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Justin Wood
Pomona, California

Linda · Guest

Thanks for sharing that. It is such a problem for me to turn the
TV off (still I had limited it to PBS) that I can see the point in not having one. I just like some of the educational shows...but then the library is probably the wiser place to go for information!

bfermanich2 · Guest

Man that IS very sad. But I'm glad that at least SOME good came from it -- mainly your revelation on how TV can destroy the family.

Thanks for sharing this with us and posting on here.

Peace,

Brad
Atlanta, GA