In many respects, we are in a privileged position - when our son was born, we had no television and had not owned one for several years. This has meant that we have not had and will not have to go through the withdrawal symptoms of removing the box from the living room and everybody wondering what to do.

I gave up television in 2000; I had lived alone for a year or so and had come to the conclusion that everything that was broadcast was of such a low quality that my brain and life deserved better. I watched a film every now and again, but compared to reading a book films were so pale in comparison. Quiet music, a glass of good wine, a decent book: a good way to unwind after a day's work. When Moira came along, she was only too happy to avoid television too - her mother had MS and often had the TV blaring disturbingly, so she felt the freedom that a no-TV house could bring: conversation and beautiful music to listen to. We both play musical instruments, so it was easy just to make our own entertainment, which is a thoroughly enjoyable and mutually rewarding activity.

When we made our home together, we had agreed that television would not be part of our lives - we saw some whenever we went on holiday, but we both found watching it disturbing on the mind and sleep: if you count how many times a camera may change its angle during an average programme (particularly the news), it is frighteningly swift. Consider what effects that has on attention span and upon children's minds.

Indeed, the American Pediatrics Association proclaims that under twos should not be allowed any television. So, our boy has not experienced TV in the home and probably less than an hour's indirect exposure elsewhere.

In turn, he entertains himself and us - our 'TV' is our family. We talk, we play with our son, we have people over (who seem to enjoy staying in a TV-free environment). When we go to others' houses, we both find that the TV often takes centre place (and then parents wonder why it is hard for their children to do their homework or practise their music!) and its effect is stressful, annoying, and disturbing. It is hard to concentrate and we both feel that our bodies are angered in its presence.

It is also interesting to spot the pupils who have been exposed to too much TV - typically, their concentration span is low, their attention to the tasks at hand wavering accordingly, and they often fail to make eye-to-eye contact. Their work (or music practice) is therefore much weaker and haphazard.

People ask us: how do you manage to live without TV? Well, after a few months of being without one, I realized that the question was incredibly ironic - how do people live WITH one?? There is so much else to do in life than watch repeats or to sit glued (drugged in effect) watching some one else's vision of what life is like, when you could be forging your own life.

As an economist, I often have to explain the concept of opportunity cost - the cost of giving up things to do something. Watching TV is a very low level cost activity - it barely warrants the brain's activity (and that it does get is not healthy), but what is given up is life itself. The film the Matrix, which I did see many years back, is deliciously ironic - it reflects the sad lives of people caught up in a life created by other people. And no, I can't really say that I benefitted much from watching that film - read Plato's analogy of the cave and you'll see that over two millennia ago, Plato was onto something: people living the superficial life created for them by others.

Some people may prefer to live with a TV - but then its content and exposure must be severely limited: keep it in an awkward and uncomfortable place, so family members do not rush in from work or school and plonk themselves down for an evening's passivity. Discuss what programmes should be watched and keep an eye on the maximum allowed (an agreed limit is helpful to encourage responsible viewing). But ultimately, life without TV is so much pleasanter - no hard hitting stressful news to punctuate the atmosphere, no crazy kids shows whose educational value is negative, no horror shows, no mind-numbingly banal entertainment programmes that hook the population into watching circus shows of lacklustre entertainment and quick-fix programmes that teach our population nothing about the longer term values of life.

Won't the kids be bored? Why? What did children do for the thousands of years before TV?? They played, they entertained themselves, they made up games ... sure, they were probably noisy and fell our and got dirty ... but that's what life's about, not wondering whether some third rate actor in a soap will finally tell his girlfriend that he's really her long-lost brother. (Moll Flanders is so superior - the book that is!).

Get rid of the TV and give yourself a life!

If you're feeling a bit sceptical about TV's benefits, then read the Plug In Drug by Marie Winn and liberate your mind!

It's also much greener to live without a TV: think of the carbon footprint of the BBC, heh heh!

alex [ @ ] classical-foundations.com