Can you imagine what would happen if we were a week with the TV turned off? Would our children get tired of us and beg to put the Lunies or Pocoyo again?
Well, we can see it soon if we join the 4 million Americans who support the voluntary TV-Free America proposal and founded by Henry Labalme supported by professors, psychiatrists, writers and athletes 10 years ago. It's about unplugging the TV and thinking about other ways to spend time. In Spain it is supported by Ecologists in Action.
The User Associations affirm that in Spain we watch the TV of 3 to 5 hours and you have to add the other screens: computer, game console and mobile. The experts talk about techno-stress whose effects are: inability to live with attention to the present, fragmented reality syndrome and flight to the unreal, passivity, superficiality and impulsivity.
According to the teacher Gabriela Martínez-Villaseñor, this has a lot to do with the increase in hyperactivity and attention deficit in children and also adults.
Anyway, it's not so much about demonize the medium but the excessive use and non-discrimination of content. In the American schools they teach "media literacy " (media literacy) in which they teach children to rationally watch TV. That is very good for both children and daddies, but it is not everything.
A child can see an average of 12,000 acts of violence and 14,000 references of sexual content. That is why the Associations demand decent content, respect for children's schedules and reduce the abuse of children's advertising.
¿And what will we do a week without TV If we support this initiative? Sports, puzzles, cooking with children, excursions, reading together, visits to family, ... there are thousands of options according to our tastes, possibilities and weather.
Will the children get tired of us? I refer to the facts. In 1980 there was a general strike in Sweden and the country was paralyzed including the media (except news). Although adults took him fatal and increased alcohol consumption, 61% of children stated that he was happier for a week because he played more, had more time, was more with the family and was able to discover new things.
Awesome to have to to sink A country for children to be happier!
