Is Just Saying No The Right Way To Go?

In some parts of Arizona, not only are they considering teaching gun safety and marksmanship in high school, but they are also offering students incentives for not watching television:

The student list keeps growing each year that Mercury Mine Elementary School in northeast Phoenix participates in TV-Turnoff Week.

Last year, teacher Jody Taylor estimated she had about 150 students who turned off their sets every day.

This year, Taylor expects the numbers to be even greater. She keeps track of the students by having them return a signed parent slip that verifies they did activities other than watch TV.

Every slip makes the students eligible for prizes that range from pencils, books, a sleeping bag, microscopes and art sets.

Today is the beginning of the 11th-annual TV-Turnoff Week where millions of people take a break from the television for a week and see what life is like without it.

About 7.6 million people are expected to have dark television screens this week, said Frank Vespe, executive director of the TV-Turnoff Network, a non-profit organization that promotes healthier living through watching less television.

Without a doubt, many kids watch too much television. But is it a question of quantity, or quality? Having kids not watch TV altogether may help focus their attention on more positive activities, but they also miss-out on programming that may actually be informative. --------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eleventh edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, April 26, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get our easy-to-follow entry guidelines here. View the latest edition of the Carnival there.

Main Page/Latest Posts