On Television

Overhearing conversations in high school, the topic seems often to be the same. “Did you see that TV show last night?” Shouts bounce from the walls and lockers as students argue about and discuss the latest episode of Jersey Shore or Dancing With the Stars. I stay quiet, sliding my notebooks, binders, and novel of the day into my bag. Truth is, I haven’t watched TV in years.

When I was a five year old living in Portland Oregon and spending my time drawing princesses, watching PBS cartoons and playing on the swings, my kindergarten teacher had an epiphany.

“This week,” she stated with enthusiasm to the group of face-making, candy-chewing, wandering-eyed kindergarteners, “is TV-free week.” We stared in shock as she continued to explain. “Go home to your parents and tell them that you can’t watch TV. It’s bad for your mind.”

My mother was not so enthused. Looking back on it, I realize that she must have pulled her hair out in dismay as she realized that her last moments of free time would soon disappear into the whirlwind that is having a child. Dutifully, she put the remote on a high shelf.

In the next week, I did everything to avoid sitting in front of the TV. I unearthed crayons, picture books, and dolls. I had tea parties with stuffed animals and sang while leaping around the house. When the end of the week came, I had forgotten about television altogether.

And so it continued. Year by year I found activities to fill my time. I drew picture after picture, filling notebooks. I became an avid reader, practically reducing my library card to dust and straining my eyes in the half-dark of late night flashlight reading sessions. I discovered music, spending hours in local record stores and online searching for songs I hadn’t heard yet. With middle school came homework to wedge into my last gaps of time.

People around me continued to narrate their after-school lives of dropping backpacks off at the door and slouching to the sofa to watch, slack-jawed and bleary-eyed, the latest reality shows and cartoons. But when I asked them about the latest events in our city or new books they’d read, they drew a blank.

Meanwhile, I had time to explore my environment and myself. More notebooks were filled as I documented the angst and trying times of being a teenager, wrote short stories and poetry, and analyzed current politics and news. I made great friends with some of my peers; I was able to bounce story ideas and philosophies of life off them and vise versa over cups of coffee at the bookstore.

“Quitting” TV is perhaps one of the best decisions I’ve made. Don’t get me wrong, I spend time on the internet and hanging out with friends like everyone else. But without hours of staring at the television screen, I’ve found time to become a more wholesome, multi-faceted person.

Sara