I remember years ago getting up from watching television thinking those are hours I would never get back, but it’s really much worse than I thought. You may be outraged at the information that has been down-played or hidden from us for decades.
A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine calculates that for every hour you spend watching television over the age of 25, your life is shortened by 21.8 minutes. If you think that number is far-fetched, read Harvard, the Journal of American Medical Assoc., and here and here.
This is comparable to risk factors such as smoking, with other research showing that one cigarette cuts 11 minutes off a lifespan – equivalent to half an hour of watching TV.
(source)
Is Your Television Affecting You or Your Child(ren)?
This Public Health Emergency warning states the following:
Hidden from you by the television companies themselves, exists hundreds of scientific studies that show TV’s devastating effects on your health, intelligence, happiness, and even your life span.
Extracted from the books Remotely Controlled and The Plug-in Drug, here are some of the effects of television viewing, every one of them backed by multiply- documented scientific studies:
- Is a Major Cause of Depression
- Decreases Academic Achievement
- Lowers Libido in Men and Women
- Is a Leading cause of half of all Violence-related crime
- Stunts the Development of Children’s Brains
- Damages the Brains of both Children and Adults
- Inhibits Speech Development
- Decreases Reading Comprehension
- Increases the Likelihood of children developing ADHD
- Decreases Creativity & Imagination
- Decreases Ability to Succeed
- Causes Vision Problems
- Makes you Less Likely to Exercise
- Causes Emotional Problems including PTSD
- One of many causes of Autism
- Makes you Eat More, Crave Sugary Foods, Causes Obesity
- Increases Children’s Chances of Becoming Alcoholics Later in Life
- Makes Men Feel Less in Love with Their Partners
- Makes Families Spend Less Time Together
- Increases Divorce Rate and Negative Moods
- Increases ‘Copycat’ Suicides
- Lowers Self-Esteem and Confidence
- Increases Desire for Cosmetic Surgical Procedures
- Decreases your Lifespan
- Reduces Athletic Performance
- Causes Alzheimer’s Disease
- Stresses the Body
- Causes Sleep Deprivation
Besides Exposure
But even if that weren’t true what about exposure to: 1) Disrespect, 2) Feminist Ideology, 3) Deviant Lifestyles, 4) Soft Porn and Immodestly Dressed Women and Men, 5) Crude Language and Poor Grammar, 6) Sexual Innuendo, 7) Visual Exposure to Material Goods and Unhealthy Foods that ‘get their wanters going’ as we would say in our family, 8) Sarcasm, 9) Materialism, and 10) Dysfunction on many levels.
And I didn’t mention lost time exercising the body and mind playing outside in the fresh air!
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” ~Ephesians 5: 15-17
If as Christians part of our purpose is to raise a godly seed and keep our hearts from evil, we must live with conviction and courage! Taking this stand when you’ve had television as part of your family forever will take wisdom and understanding.
When Moses talked to Israel and Joshua before his death about ‘taking the land’, he girded them up with these words:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” ~ Deuteronomy 31: 6
Do you feel your lives are out of control? It takes a fear of the Lord! Please pray about it first and gently share this with your husband if you are so lead.
I am so glad the Lord (through the Holy Spirit) gradually lead us to trash our TVs when our first child was a baby, and you can do it, too! It was not easy because we’d already had a TV for 19 years of married life and were pretty devoted to it!
Take Back The Time
To start, here are some helpful tips I found online to channel the time spent on the tube into useful pursuits:
1) Fill the time normally spent on TV with more rewarding activities
2) Create a TV schedule
3) No TV at dinner and other meal times
4) Cover your TV
5) Get rid of extra TV’s
7) Disconnect your TV
8.) Cut the Cable or Satellite Subscription and use it for a nice vacation
9) Skip all commercials
10) When applicable, use VidAngel
“Getting rid of your television should not be considered extreme. You are immediately doubling the amount of free time you have and, after a short period of time, you are very unlikely to miss it.”
~ Dr. Aric Sigman
“I will walk in my house with blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.” ~Psalm 101: 2b, 3-4
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