by: Leah Black

My one-year-old was addicted to Yo Gabba Gabba. I had gotten a preview DVD of this new Nickelodeon TV show in the office last fall, and I had taken it home to see if it was any good. Over the next few months, not only was it the only thing Liam would watch, but he would cry in that “you’ll scar me for life if you don’t let me have that DVD” way if he

didn’t get to watch it.

That’s when I decided Liam would have to give up Yo Gabba Gabba cold turkey.

I have to admit, I’m thankful for that video on days when I need to get work done and I know that slipping the DVD in the player will give me 20 minutes of peace. But I also know that the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages any amount of television watching for children under age two.

Except for a few children’s DVDs now and then, we watch no TV in our house. In fact, for much of the past 15 years I have not had a TV. It was tough at first, but I quickly realized what a huge time drain it can be. Now that I have a child, I want my son to spend his spare time playing, reading, creating and learning – not glued to the TV.

Today’s television is just not for kids. Becoming a mother has made me much more aware of the messages being sent to our kids, and I wonder how these messages will affect their view of the world. Will my son look at sex-charged commercials and shows and think that women should be slim and beautiful or they’re just not good enough? How will he be affected by all the violence on TV?

I realize I can’t shelter my boy forever. There will come a day when Liam will go to school and feel like an outcast when other kids are talking about last night’s episode of some favorite show. He’ll ask why he can’t watch what the other kids are watching. I can’t say yet whether I’ll maintain

my ban on television. When Liam is older I

may give in so we can watch educational shows. After all, there are some great shows on channels like Discovery, The History Channel and TLC. But, for now, while my

son is still young and incredibly impressionable, I choose to keep

the TV off.

I recently learned of some

scary statistics that confirm my decision. According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education:

n the average child or adolescent watches an average of nearly three hours of television per day.

n on average, U.S. children will spend more time in front of the television (1,023 hours) than in school this year (900 hours).

n 40 percent of Americans frequently or always watch television during dinner.

n a child’s risk of being overweight increases by six percent for every hour of television watched

per day.

April is TV Turn-off Month. If you don’t think you can do it for a whole month without a household mutiny, try it for a week. Ask the kids to plan out a week full of family activities – play games, go for a walk or bike ride, check out some books from the library. Challenge your kids to see how long you can leave the TV off. You may just realize how much you don’t miss it.