STEVE SMITH -- Family Time

Stay tuned to today’s column -- there is a special offer near the end.

Twice a year, I have a legitimate excuse to run on about the nation’s

addiction to television. One natural time is the third week in April,

which is national No-TV Week. The other time is today, which marks the

anniversary of the day our children, now 9 and 11 1/2, stopped watching

television. This is their third TV-free year.

This no-TV thing is getting expensive. On their first anniversary, we

surprised each kid with $50 in cash and told them that each year they

continued to stay off the tube, we’d add another $10 to their reward. So,

this year, Mom and Dad are out $140.

The money is a small price to pay for the peace and quiet around the

house. It’s also a small price to pay for not staying up late to watch TV

and a small price to pay for not being a slave to a television schedule.

The heavy influence of the demanding TV schedule was very apparent on

Thanksgiving Day. Our family drove down to San Diego to be with relatives

(tip: If you drive down to San Diego on Thanksgiving Day, be sure to

leave your house by 9:30 a.m. And take the toll road, even if you can’t

stand the idea of paying to drive on a road that you helped fund). We

stayed all day and had a wonderful time. As we were getting ready to

leave, we noticed that the host’s conversation had turned to a couple of

TV shows appearing on the tube that night. It turned out that they were

torn between watching “Survivor” or the episode of “Friends” starring

Brad Pitt.

It seemed to both Cay and me that our hosts attitude was “since it’s

close to 9 o’clock and since you’re packing up to leave anyway, could you

please do it a little faster?”

If ever there was a time to set the VCR to record a show, that was it.

But just like VCR owners all over the country, theirs was probably

flashing “12:00,” and the machine was no more capable of recording a show

than was their toaster.

The Miller family of Costa Mesa is halfway to being TV-free. About

three weeks ago, Kathy Miller, the mom, called to tell me that the larger

of their two TVs had broken and that she was not rushing out to get it

fixed.

A few days ago, I checked in with Kathy to see if the family was still

speaking to each other. It seems that the Millers are doing just fine.

“Not having two TVs has definitely changed things,” Kathy said. “The

kids are interested in other things. And Kirsten is reading more.”

In the background, daughter Kirsten, 13, offered that she is reading

more because she found a good book, but I wonder if she would have found

it had the second TV been available.

Kathy also told me that it’s quieter in the house. And when I asked

her if she or husband Dave had plans to fix the broken set, she said,

“The funny thing is that we can’t remember where we bought it to take it

back for repair, so it’s just sitting there.”

Our son, Roy, has been reading a lot more since he stopped watching

television, but now he has another pastime. Roy is falling head over

heels in love with the game of chess. I’m sure that having seen “Harry

Potter” twice has had a big influence on his sudden interest in the game

-- Roy takes a full-sized chessboard with him to school each day -- but

the truth is that he wouldn’t have time to play if he were watching the

national average of four hours per day. Each morning, we try to squeeze

one game in before he goes to school. He’s getting quite good, and he

beat me a few days ago.

If all of the improved family conditions aren’t enough, consider the

new evidence from the Harvard School of Public Health that those who

watch two hours of TV a day double their odds of getting diabetes. Watch

four hours, and you’ll triple the risk.

And now for that offer I mentioned. I am available to speak to your

organization to discuss the great benefits of a TV-free home and to teach

others how to kick the habit. I’m not selling anything or plugging

anything. If you are interested, call me at (949) 574-2462 or e-mail me

at o7 [email protected] .

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to the ATM to get some cash for

my kids.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.