Guide to Giving Up Television: How to Give Up TV for Good

You've decided that you want to give up television for good. You're watching the tube too much, and you don't seem to do anything else. Your friends never see you out anymore, because you're watching reruns of Law and Order in 8 hour stretches. Your family considers you obsessed, and you know it's time to give up watching television. Watching television can have many bad effects. There are many reasons why someone should consider giving up television. One reason is that you can damage your eyes by sitting too close to the TV. Many television watchers tend to sit less than the guideline six feet from the television screen. This effect might not be realized if you only watch TV once in a while, but if you're obsessed, the damages will occur sooner.

A second reason to stop watching television is that you are losing your friends. If you always opt to watch TV instead of go out on the weekends and spend time with them, you will lose them eventually. Good friends are hard to find!

Third, your family may no longer be willing to tolerate your television obsession. If you neglect household chores and are no longer involved in family events, your family may decide that your loner rebellious phase needs to come to an end.

Maybe your grades are suffering at school. Instead of doing your homework, you're watching television. Even if it is the discovery learning channel, you're still neglecting your school responsibilities.

You may come to see the world through the eyes of television, instead of through reality. You may think it's normal for people to go on killing sprees, or normal for all families to be happy all of the time. You won't learn how to interact with others and form teams and friendships.

You could become depressed. Watching lots of TV promotes your being a loner. You aren't making friends and socializing. You'll soon come to realize this sense of loneliness, and coupled with a lack of human interaction and touching, you may become depressed.

So how are you going to go about giving up television for good? There are a few different ways to go about it.