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Published on 05/12/1997 All articles from this issue

Local 5th graders pull the plug on TV

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By Linda Taaffe

Special to the Town Crier

Fifth graders at Oak School pulled the plug on their televisions as part of the third annual National TV-Turnoff Week April 24-30.

Kirby Lunger, who helped organize the event in Los Altos, said the Junior League and Score sponsored the event to help the community understand television's far-reaching effects.

Students who volunteered to participate in the event were not allowed to watch any TV for one week.

Of the 49 Oak students that participated in the event, 32 successfully avoided watching TV for the entire week, said fifth-grade teacher Judy Manley.

Fifth-grader Jenna Parisi said she usually watches TV everyday. She said the most difficult part of the event was finding something else to do.

"It wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't normal," Jenna said. "I learned what people went through when they didn't have TVs. . . like when my teacher was little."

Jenna's classmate, Erik Buser, said it was difficult not to peek at the TV while the rest of his family watched it. He said he played games with his family, listened to music and went outside more.

"I had a lot more fun than I thought," Erik said.

The TV turnoff week was part of Change the Channel on Violence, a community project sponsored by the Junior League of Palo Alto-Mid Peninsula, which focuses on the effects of TV violence on children . Lunger said viewing violence on television can cause behavioral changes in children. She said children love to imitate Arnold Schwartzenegger on the playground, for example.

Not only does violence affect children, but the sheer number of hours children spend watching television also affects their well-being, she said. She said the average child watches six hours and 47 minutes of TV per day, or 1500 hours per year.

"We want families to be able to evaluate how TV affects their community," Lunger said. "We hope they will use this knowledge to make a difference on how TV is watched by their children."

Manley said she was pleased with the results of the event. Many of the children have continued to watch less TV since then, she said.

"The students learned how pervasive TV is," she said. "They discovered that they don't need to watch it all of the time."

Students who successfully completed TV-Turnoff Week were invited to an ice cream party and given less homework the following week, Manley said. Score presented participants with a free two- week session at the company's learning center.