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NEW YORK, NEW YORK, April 16, 2002: The eighth annual TV-Turnoff Week will be observed from April 22nd through the 28th. The whole family is invited to make a clean break from the tube, where the average viewing time is 28 hours per week for adults and 21 hours for children. “TV-watching is the default setting for many people,” says Frank Vespe, executive director of the nonprofit Washington, D.C.-based TV-Turnoff Network. “TV isn’t going away and we’re not saying that it should. But if we can get people to the point where they’re making a conscious choice to watch when they watch, and to spend more time doing other things, we will have made a difference,” he says. On the TV-Turnoff Network’s Web site (www.tvturnoff.org), you’ll find tips on how to encourage children and fellow adults. There are lots of alternative activities with which you can fill your TV cooling-off period. The web lists 101 suggestions, including baking, learning yoga, tending the garden and reading a book. The site also gives plenty of arguments for re-examining your free time priorities. One reason: the connection between obesity and TV-watching drawn by then Surgeon General David Satcher as he endorsed last year’s TV-Turnoff Week. The objective is to occupy yourself with something other than TV, Web-surfing and video games.

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