TV Turn-off Week

Next week is National TV Turn-off Week. I like the idea of trying a week without TV. I am not sure if we will try it for a week, but we might go for a day or two. I know that there are many kids and families that spend hours every day sitting in front of a TV. While cartoons were a Saturday morning treat when I was a child, they are now on 24 hours a day, on multiple channels. Clearly, 5 or 6 or even more hours of TV for chlidren is not a good idea. If they are watching TV, they are missing out on doing things kids should be doing, including playing outside or doing crafts.

But, is a little TV such a terrible thing? I let my kids watch some TV each day. They watch a half-hour or so in the morning while I take a shower and then another half-hour while settling down for bedtime. Sometimes when my daughter is taking a nap, my son has the TV on while he plays with his Legos or something. Many will say that I let them watch too much. But I am not so sure.

I probably do watch too much TV myself. But, after a long and stresfsul day, sometimes just mindlessly watching TV (with reality being my favorite) helps me to de-stress.

So my question, is a little TV all so bad? While I am sure my kids could watch less TV, and I am pretty set on not letting them watch more, do I need to feel guilty about them watching what they do? I watched TV as a kid and I haven't turned out so bad. And, even though it is a passive activity, my kids do learn things. Most of what my kids know about careers (police, fire, etc.), they have learned from videos. And often they will do something such as spell a word or explain something new to me based on something they caught on a show.

With everything else I am supposed to feel guilty about, is a few hours of TV here and there really so bad? Or can I just give myself some slack on this one?