television


 * 1) How many hours of T.V. do you watch a day? How many in a week, including the weekend?
 * 2) Do you watch too much T.V.?
 * 3) How much time do you spend online, on facebook, texting, or socializing though electronics in a day?
 * 4) How much time do you spend playing video games a day?
 * 5) Where was the U.S. Constitution written?
 * 6) What town or city has the zip code 90210?

//Television// by Roald Dahl

The most important thing we've learned, So far as children are concerned, Is never, NEVER, NEVER let Them near your television set -- Or better still, just don't install The idiotic thing at all. In almost every house we've been, We've watched them gaping at the screen. They loll and slop and lounge about, And stare until their eyes pop out. (Last week in someone's place we saw A dozen eyeballs on the floor.) They sit and stare and stare and sit Until they're hypnotised by it, Until they're absolutely drunk With all that shocking ghastly junk. Oh yes, we know it keeps them still, They don't climb out the window sill, They never fight or kick or punch, They leave you free to cook the lunch And wash the dishes in the sink -- But did you ever stop to think, To wonder just exactly what This does to your beloved tot? IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD! IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD! IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND! IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND! HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE! HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE! HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES! 'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say, 'But if we take the set away, What shall we do to entertain Our darling children? Please explain!' We'll answer this by asking you, 'What used the darling ones to do? 'How used they keep themselves contented Before this monster was invented?' Have you forgotten? Don't you know? We'll say it very loud and slow: THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ, AND READ and READ, and then proceed To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks! One half their lives was reading books! The nursery shelves held books galore! Books cluttered up the nursery floor! And in the bedroom, by the bed, More books were waiting to be read! Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales And treasure isles, and distant shores Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars, And pirates wearing purple pants, And sailing ships and elephants, And cannibals crouching 'round the pot, Stirring away at something hot. (It smells so good, what can it be? Good gracious, it's Penelope.) The younger ones had Beatrix Potter With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter, And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland, And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and- Just How The Camel Got His Hump, And How the Monkey Lost His Rump, And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul, There's Mr. Rate and Mr. Mole- Oh, books, what books they used to know, Those children living long ago! So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install A lovely bookshelf on the wall. Then fill the shelves with lots of books, Ignoring all the dirty looks, The screams and yells, the bites and kicks, And children hitting you with sticks- Fear not, because we promise you That, in about a week or two Of having nothing else to do, They'll now begin to feel the need Of having something to read. And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy! You watch the slowly growing joy That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen They'll wonder what they'd ever seen In that ridiculous machine, That nauseating, foul, unclean, Repulsive television screen! And later, each and every kid Will love you more for what you did.

Taken from Poemhunter.com ( http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/television/)

Facts about T.V.
TV STATISTICS (compiled by TV Free America) According to the A.C. Nielsen Co. (1998), the average American watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV each day (more than 52 days of nonstop TV-watching per year). By age 65 the average American will have spent nearly 9 years glued to the tube. FAMILY LIFE 1) Percentage of US households with at least one television: 98 2) Percentage of US households with at least one VCR: 84 3) Percentage of US households with two TV sets: 34; three or more TV sets: 40 4) Hours per day that TV is on in an average US home: 7 hours, 12 minutes 5) Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66 6) Number of videos rented daily in the US: 6 million 7) Number of public library items checked out daily: 3 million 8) Chance that an American falls asleep with the TV on at least three nights a week: 1 in 4 9) Percentage of Americans who say they watch too much TV: 49 CHILDREN & EDUCATION 1) Number of minutes per week that the average American child ages 2-11 watches television: 1,197 2) Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5 3) Percentage of children ages 5-17 who have a TV in their bedroom: 52 4) Percentage of children ages 2-5 who have a TV in their bedroom: 25 5) Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70 6) Percentage of parents who would like to limit their children's TV watching: 73 7) Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54. 8) Hours per week of TV watching shown to negatively affect academic achievement: 10 or more 9) Percentage of 4th graders that watch more than 14 hours of television per week: 81 10) Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1,500 11) Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 12) Chance that an American parent requires that children do their homework before watching TV: 1 in 12 13) Percentage of teenagers 13-17 who can name the city where the US Constitution was written (Philadelphia): 25 14) Percentage of teenagers 13-17 who know where you find the zip code 90210 (Beverly Hills): 75

Taken from T.V. Turn-off (http://members.iquest.net/~macihms/HomeEd/tvfacts.html)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oFpUW11RPs&feature=related