9 Things to Do Instead of Watching ‘Love & Hip Hop Atlanta’ With Your Kids
I don’t often agree with George W. Bush. However, I did when once during an interview on CPAN in 2005 he said, “”They put an off button on the TV for a reason. Turn it off . . .
I really don’t watch much TV.”
When compared to other ethnic groups in the United States, African Americans have the highest rate of total TV usage, according to the Nielsen State of the Media report
released in 2011. The study examines viewing trends by ethnicity. African Americans used their TVs an average of 7 hours, 12 minutes each day — far above the U.S. average
of 5 hours, 11 minutes. Asians watched TV the least, at just 3 hours and 14 minutes a day on average. Not to mention that in general, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV.”
For African Americans, it is too common for us to watch TV instead of do something educational with our children. More troubling is that what we watch is frequently dysfunctional lunacy disguised as reality television. We are particularly fond of the likes of “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta” and “Basketball Wives.”
So if you can, I am suggesting several activities you can and should do with your children, instead of watching television, especially sociopathic shows like “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta.”
