c. 1998 Religion News Service

(Dale Hanson Bourke is publisher of RNS and a recovering teleholic.)

UNDATED _ It started as a family experiment, a way to help my younger son concentrate more on his education and less on entertainment.

But it’s become one of the most family-changing experiences we have enjoyed together. A simple, yet shocking restructuring of our family’s dynamics.

On January 1 we turned off the television during weekdays. It came after some whining and negotiating, but it was a decision we reached as a family.

The rules are simple: no television or video games on school days, but shows can be videotaped to watch on weekends. Educational computer games can be played only after homework is done.

We also dusted off the old board games and announced parents would be available most evenings for a half hour of Scrabble, Monopoly or checkers. (We ruled out chess because the children outpace the parents considerably.)

I firmly believed my younger son, who does not even remember his name when a television is on, would be the hardest hit. And I also thought I was one of those people who”never watch TV”except for the news.

I was wrong.

My younger son adapted quickly to the new plan. He now takes more time to do his homework because he no longer races to finish so he can put in TV time. He plays”Math Blaster”and other educational computer games with the same gusto he once reserved for more lethal video combat.

My elder son has been going to bed earlier. He no longer gets involved in a movie and stays up to see the end. He even told me he is thinking of selling his television _ the once-prized possession he saved his money for months to buy.

My husband and I have been reading. We are both surprised by the number of books we have finished in the last weeks and the music we have learned to enjoy again. And now we actually talk to each other and have longer dinner-time discussions as a family.

And while the idea of taping shows seemed like a good compromise, I have been surprised by how few shows we consider worth the effort. When we do tape something, we enjoy the anticipation of watching it _ commercial free _ on the weekends.

But perhaps the biggest surprise has been how difficult it has been for me to give up television. I still watch the morning and evening news on the grounds I need to keep up professionally. In the past, I was a vigilant channel surfer for news and current events shows. Most of the time I wasn’t actually watching, but the din in the background was a constant distraction.

Now I realize I was the biggest TV junkie in the family. By saying I didn’t watch, I was exhibiting the denial of an addict:”I don’t have a problem. I can stop whenever I want to …” I had heard of other families turning off the television and it always sounded a little extreme. As a pro-technology person for the most part, I think it is wrong to blame machines for our cultural problems.

But during the past television-less weeks I began to notice what a grip the tube has on our country. A minister friend of mine told me his busy church never schedules important meetings on Thursday nights:”The best shows are on Thursdays. We can’t compete with `Seinfeld’ and `ER.'” Another friend told me her kids race through homework so they can have time to watch shows she considers”junk.”When I suggested she try our experiment, she said the kids would throw her out if she brought up such a radical idea.

There is a sticker on the television in our newsroom that reads”Turn off television. Turn on life.”I always thought it was funny to see it attached to the tube itself. But now I see it in a different light.

I am embarrassed to say I waited until my children were 10 and 14 to try such a simple experiment. I am also mortified by the fact they might have accepted it sooner than I would have.

Television is not a monster. But we can make it one if we let it displace family time or simply quiet time in our homes.

Maybe my house is the exception, but somehow I don’t think so. Try it in your home and see what happens. You may be surprised by what you have been missing.

DEA END RNS