Released on = April 19, 2007, 7:18 am

Press Release Author = Carrie Lauth

Industry = Entertainment

Press Release Summary = Atlanta, GA - According to the Center for Screen Time
Awareness, children in the US will spend more time in front of the television (1,023
hours) than in school this year (900 hours).

Press Release Body = Carrie Lauth (www.naturalmomstalkradio.com) and Katherine
Westphal creator of the TV Free System discussed the effects on children when they
watch too much television. After her family had to go without TV, Katherine took
note of all the positive changes that were happening within her family, but she
wasn't sure why. When their circumstances changed and they had a television again,
she noticed that all those positive things were quickly disappearing, and it was
then that she understood what was happening. The exposure to television was
impacting their lives in a negative way, so Katherine became determined to find out
exactly what was going on.
Shocked by what her research revealed, Katherine says, "Children watch an estimated
18000 murders on TV by the time they turn 18 and over 200,000 acts of violence.
Parents spend an average of 38 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with
their children, compared with watching 31½ hours of TV, and television has been
found to cause ADHD symptoms in young children."
In response to the growing statistics and Katherine's own research, Carrie Lauth and
Katherine Westphal are encouraging parents to participate in TV Turnoff Week
throughout the week of April 23 - 29, but why should you off the TV?
Here are 2 good reasons.

During the 2001 TV Turnoff Week, US Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher said, "We are
raising the most overweight generation of youngsters in American history...This week
is about saving lives.\" Dennison et.al. 2002 agrees, "In a study of preschoolers
(ages 1-4), a child's risk of being overweight increased by six percent for every
hour of television watched per day. If that child had a TV in his or her bedroom,
the odds of being overweight jumped an additional thirty-one percent for every hour
watched. Preschool children with TV's in their bedroom watched an additional 4.8
hours of TV or videos every week."

"Research now indicates that for every hour of television children watch each day,
their risk of developing attention-related problems later increases by ten percent,"
says D. Christakis, Pediatrics. "For example, if a child watches 3 hours of
television each day, the child would be thirty percent more likely to develop
attention deficit disorder."

Will you "turn off TV and turn on life?"

About Instead of TV:
Carrie Lauth has created an entire website devoted to turning off the television.
The purpose of the site is not just to focus on the negative aspects of the TV habit
(although an awareness of the bad things about TV is a powerful motivator to help
you stop watching). The main purpose is to show you how life can be so much more
fun, meaningful and just plain better without television!





Web Site = http://www.InsteadofTV.com

Contact Details = For more information contact Carrie Lauth at 770-356-9980 or visit
http://www.insteadoftv.com
4930 N Wexford Rd
Atlanta GA 30349