KARACHI, Sept 27: In our part of the world television is considered as a source of enjoying life, while in the developed countries including the USA dozens of groups are seeing the television as a big time waster and urging citizens to turn off television and start enjoying life.

It is said that television cuts into family time, harms children's ability to read and succeed in school, and contributes to unhealthy lifestyles and obesity.

The TV turnoff network (formerly TV-Free America) is among those organisations that try to encourage children and adults to watch less television and so have more time for a healthier life and more community participation.

Founded in 1994, the TV-Turnoff Network is dedicated to the belief that we all have the power to determine the role that television plays in our own lives. Rather than waiting for others to make “better” TV, we can turn it off and reclaim time for our families, our friends, and for ourselves. The TV-Turnoff Network has helped millions of people do just that. Their two primary programs 'TV-Turnoff Week' and 'More Reading, Less TV' has helped people, especially children, to turn off TV and turn on life.

Its grassroots project is TV-Turnoff Week, and its popularity could be gauged from the fact that since 1995, more than 24 million people have participated in TV-Turnoff Week.

Its 'More Reading, Less TV' is a four-week programme that helps elementary school teachers motivate their students to put down their remote controls and pick up books instead. More than 30,000 students nationwide have benefited from this programme.

It is said that the programme improves students' reading habits and their attitudes toward reading, especially among those who identify themselves as poor readers. Students watch less television, read more, and participate in more screen-free activities than before.

A multi-day TV “fast” allows sufficient time for the development of habits likely to be more productive and rewarding.

It is recommended to indulge into positive and healthy activities than to waste one's time sitting passively before the tube.

Such alternate activities especially for kids could include: Volunteer in a school to teach reading, maths, computer skills; learn to play the guitar or other musical instruments; attend community programmes; organize a community clean-up; put together a puzzle; visit the library, borrow a book, attend library activities; listen to the radio; visit the zoo; paint a picture, a mural or a room; attend a high school sporting event; go swimming; read a book aloud to your younger sister/brother; plan a picnic or barbecue; go bird watching; volunteer for a community organisation or charity; play with your pet; write a letter to a friend or relative; learn to cook; plant a flower, vegetable or herb garden; read magazines or newspapers; start a neighbourhood cricket, soccer, or hockey game; go through your closets and clothes.—PPI