I Don't Own a Television

And haven't had one in my home for over 20 years. Ours broke when I was six years old and my dad had been thinking about getting rid of it so we did and we never replaced it. My husband grew up in a home without a television also and we've decided not to have one too.

There are a few reasons not to own a television - here is one of them...

For me, having a television in our home would be a horrible time waster. (Just like the internet but harder to control). Also I feel like it could take away from my husband and I's relationship by making it harder for us to sit and talk at night like we do now. Another reason I don't want a television in my home was reinforced recently and this is where this post has the potential to get a little controversial.

I joined in the fun and games at The Hunter's Wife with her recent Survivor contest - she assigned the first 20 of us that signed up a player on the reality TV show Survivor. Whoever's character won the show got a $50 gift certificate to Cabelas. I can always use a gift certificate to Cabela's so I joined in the fun. I had heard a lot about Survivor over the years and it always sounded like one of the TV shows I would be interested in watching so since I was part of this contest I looked it up online and watched it online. After the first week I realized that I could basically listen to the show and just watch the challenges since everything else was just talking. This worked out nicely for me because I am normally up until 2:30 or so in the morning Thursday night/Friday morning finishing up some data entry - so I plugged in the headphones and listened while I typed.

As the show ended and Parvarti won I was disgusted. She didn't excel at the challenges, she lied, she sneaked around, she was mean and she won. I realize this is a game and part of the game is "outwit" and she did "outwit" everyone else. Amanda did too though - with the blindside of Alexis, by recovering from the shock of Ozzy's blindside to join in the new alliance, her part in fooling Erick... Once it came down to a final two it was painfully obvious that she would have a hard time winning the game. The only sure votes she had were Ozzy and James. If it had been a final three the rest of the jury would have been divided between Parvarti and Ciri and Amanda might have won. I don't think it really mattered who she took to the final tribal council, Amanda wasn't going to beat Parvarti or Ciri going head-to-head against them, she never would have had Natalie and Alexis' vote and whoever she sent as the last member of the jury also wouldn't vote for her. I think Amanda summed it up when she told Jeff Probst that the nice guys just couldn't win Survivor, and that is sad. I did enjoy the show and I would be tempted to watch it again, I just really disliked how the social part of the game works.

My dad once told me that he decided not to have a television anymore because there were things happening on TV that he wouldn't allow to go on in our house, so why bring it into our home via the television? That said I realize that there are some wonderful things on TV, that there are educational shows, the news and other great things. But there are also violence, adultery, cheating, lying, stealing and who knows what else. All things that are not allowed in my home so why invite them into my living room on a daily basis?

I realize that people watch a lot more TV than they want to admit. Anytime the subject comes up and people find out that I don't have a television the first words out of their mouth are always "well I just watch the news" or "I hardly ever have mine on." The research says differently - it says that the average American watches 4 1/2 hours of television a day - 32 hours a week, almost a second full-time job. The worst part of this is that watching TV is a completely passive activity - it doesn't engage your brain like reading does. It doesn't engage your body and all of your senses like physical activity does.

I had a teacher my senior year in high school pull me aside one day. She said to me, "you don't have a television." I was shocked because it had never come up before. I told her she was right and asked how she knew. I had her for two classes - Advanced Placement English and Humanities. She said she could tell by the way I paid attention in class, how I took notes, my reading comprehension and my vocabulary. I appreciated the compliment but was always amazed by how she knew without anyone telling her that I didn't have a TV. She said she could always tell - who had one but really only watched a little of it, who didn't have one and who lived for their television shows. It still amazes me.

When Lil Sugar was born our pediatrician gave us a book about the babies first few years and the section on television shocked us (in a good way). To get the book and quote directly I'd probably wake Lil Sugar (and every Momma knows, you don't wake up a sleeping baby unless it is an emergency!) The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages television, especially in the first year of a babies life. New studies are also showing that excessive TV viewing in the first 3 years of life can lead to issues like attention deficit disorder. Whenever Lil Sugar sees a TV or if we watch a news clip online she becomes like a little zombie watching the pictures move. I don't like to see that so I'm glad we don't have a TV. If we did have one it would be too easy to use it as a babysitter, when she is just fussy because she wants a little of my undivided attention.

I'm not foolish enough to say that everything on TV is bad or that there is nothing good that Lil Sugar (or even myself) could learn by watching certain programs on TV. But I am going to say that for me - I plan on never owning a TV. I'm enough of a couch potato without sitting around and watching TV too, because if I had one - I'd be watching for 4 1/2 hours every day, just like everyone else - all those average Americans.

Am I the only one here who doesn't have a TV? I know several people who have made the same lifestyle choices we've made in the area of whether or not to own a TV, but I'm curious to know about you.

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Want to try living without a TV? Here is a great resource.