Ten tips to break the TV habit !

Dear Children ! After going through the articles in the series,you must have realised the harm in watching TV. Due to watching TV for many years that impressions may have been created in your subconscious mind (read more here). Moreover, entertainment programmes constantly attract your attention. However, the ten tips given below will help in getting rid of the habit of watching TV unnecessarily.

Set your life goals !

At the outset, many children watch TV because they have lots of spare time. The reason they have lots of spare time is because they have not set any goal in their life. Such children become addicted to TV. If you want to break the habit of watching TV, then first set a goal for yourself. Now, what should be a good goal for children ? The goal should be to study hard & be successful by becoming a professor, research scientist, military officer etc., so as to serve the Nation and Dharma.

Dear Children ! Once your goal is set, your efforts to study will take place in that direction. Naturally, you will not have any spare time to watch TV; hence, your habit of watching TV will automatically break.

Start reading or indulge in hobbies!

Read on a variety of topics : To develop a liking for reading, initially read books with topics that you like most. Later,read books on topics that will be useful in your life. Like this, keep reading books on various topics to prevent boredom in reading. Read books on various topics such as history of our national heroes, Bharat’s freedom struggle, biographies of our revolutionaries, war stories, inventions by the great scientists of Bharat, collection of poems by great poets, special characteristics of Deities and biographies of the Saints, great Hindu culture etc.

Take up hobbies : As per your likes, select any performing arts such as singing, playing musical instruments or other arts such as sculpting, crafts etc. For more ideas, refer this article.

Reduce TV-watching habit step wise : ‘Reduce TV watching time by half-an-hour every week. On holidays, TV watching should be minimal. Do not watch TV when examinations are approaching.’

– Ms Indrani Puranik, Goa.

10 Tips (plus two) to break the TV habit

1. Say goodbye to the TV remote control and take control of your life

2. Only turn on the TV to watch a particular programme. Don’t just switch on the TV and search for something to watch. Your precious time is wasted switching from one show to the next, while flipping channels.

3. When you sit down to watch a programme, set an alarm clock in another room. When it rings get up and switch off the TV.

4. Hide the remote control !

5. Food should be eaten with the family, not the TV ! Sit down and enjoy the food with chanting instead of watching TV.

6. Decide not to switch on the TV till you have done all your chores and completed other useful activity like exercising etc.

7. Start reading : By reading books your language skills will improve and so will your knowledge.

8. Help around the house : There will be little chores like cleaning the grocery cupboard, folding and storing clothes etc. Help the others with these.

9. Play games : Playing real games like kho-kho, kabaddi etc. help in numerous ways. (More information in this article) Playing games is fun, healthy and useful to personality development when compared with mindlessly watching TV.

10. Resist watching that favourite movie for the 5th time : You have watched it once, that should suffice. Repeatedly watching the same scenes and dialogues creates lasting impressions on your mind.

11. Avoid programmes filled with guns and violence. They have lasting effects on the minds (especially those of children).

12. Avoid so called ‘reality shows’ that play with emotions. They can leave you feeling drained and after something dramatic takes place, the mind takes a while to come out of it.

We hope these tips will help you break the TV habit and lead a healthy, stress free and successful life!