Guest Author - Terrie Lynn Bittner

LDS teens watch less than eleven hours a week of television—far less than children of any other religious group. Of course, that may be because they have to get up early for Seminary, can’t watch on Sundays, are busy with their families on Mondays, have Mutual one day a week and often weekend activities as well—and then they have to fit in school, sports and community activities. Who has time for television? (For more information on this study visit National Study of Youth and Religion.)

If your children haven’t yet found themselves too busy for television, you can gently wean them from it. While Turn Off the TV events are popular, it’s often best to gradually turn their interests elsewhere when you want permanent results. The time they now spend watching television needs to be filled with something else more interesting, so that they gradually lose interest in living in front of the television.

First, figure out how much television they watch, when they watch and, if possible, why they watch. Are they keeping up with a show that’s fashionable? Are they bored? Are they watching programs that are meaningful or that they truly enjoy? Are they just de-stressing after a long day? This information will help you decide how much television is appropriate for them.

If you are uncomfortable with some of the programming your children are watching, start by eliminating those shows. Tell your children they will not be allowed to watch these programs any longer, and explain why. Don’t let them substitute another program in its place. Instead, plan a family activity for the time of the program, and continue to do something together for about a month—long enough for the program to stop becoming an anticipated part of their week. The activities don’t have to be elegant. Go out for ice cream, read a book together or play a game.

If your children are still watching too much television, ask them to make a list of the programs they are watching. Then have them rank the programs in order of how important they are to each person who watches it. Use the rankings to systematically remove one program at a time until you are satisfied with the time they are spending. You may want to eliminate a program a month, so they adjust gradually to the changes.

Now what are you going to do with the spare time? Help your children develop new hobbies so they find themselves too busy to watch television. During family night, compile a list of alternate activities a child can refer to when he’s bored. When my children complained they were bored, I always suggested ominously that I knew something they could do. Since they knew that meant chores, they quickly thought of something to do.

When your children do watch television, watch with them and discuss the programs during commercials. See my article onTeaching With Television to learn how to keep your children from watching mindlessly.

Finally, make sure you are setting the example. It’s just as important for us to turn off the television as it is for our children. What do you do with your own spare time?