Hopwood to observe TV Turn Off Week

Hopwood Junior High School will observe the national celebration of TV Turn Off Week this April 24 to April 30.

HJHS vice principal Beth Nepaial told Saipan Tribune in an interview last week that the school would be encouraging its 1,160 students and their parents to turn their television sets off at home for the entire duration of this week.

She said the school—the largest middle school in the CNMI—would be sending letters to parents informing them of the celebration.

Nepaial pointed out that turning off TVs this week would benefit the children in time for this week’s Stanford Achievement Test 10. For the students get favorable marks in the test, “it would be best to stay away from the TV.”

She said that schoolteachers are being asked to recommend to their students to observe the TV Turn Off Week for their own advantage as well.

She said she herself would be observing it this week, though she knows that she would be unpopular at home.

“No one will love me this week,” quipped Nepaial.

Nepaial has two children, age 12 and four but, according to her, it’s not the kids she’s worried about but her husband, who spends at least five hours a day in front of the boob tube, she laughed.

Turning the television sets off at least one night a week would produce positive outcome among family members, said Nepaial.

“They would have more time to communicate and spend more time with each other. The family will be able to make more memories,” she added.

The event is being held in collaboration with V-Turnoff Network, a U.S.-based national nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging children and adults to watch less television in order to promote healthier lives and communities.

According to the group, television cuts into family time and harms not only American children but also all the children in the world in their ability to read and succeed in school. Television also contributes to unhealthy lifestyles and obesity.

“Here are just a few of the facts: on average, children in the U.S. will spend more time in front of the television or 1,023 hours than in school this year, with only 900 hours; and 40 percent of Americans frequently or always watch television during dinner,” the group said in a statement.

The organizer said millions of people all over the world have participated in TV Turnoff Week since it began in 1995.

“Children and adults, rich and poor—people from every background and all walks of life—take part through schools, churches, or community groups, as families or individuals,” the group said, adding that turning off the television gives families a chance to think, read, create, and do more. “To connect with our families and engage in our communities…turn off TV and turn on life.”