I don't want my MTV

When I was growing up, I often sensed that I was somehow ... different from most of my peers. No, this feeling was not because I had any special abilities, nor (to my knowledge) did I ever sprout horns. \nRather, I felt different because my family is among the less than two percent of American households that does not own a television. The first reaction among childhood friends when I confessed this anomaly was generally shock mingled with dismay. They would ask me, "What is it like?" in the tones of horrified awe usually reserved for addressing criminals or aliens.\nI'm a bit baffled that they were so baffled. The prevalence of the television in modern America is not as high as some people think, with TV ownership rising in the United States only in the last 50 years or so, and televisions are still far from common in much of the world. \nThere is even news without television, much to the astonishment of my childhood interrogators (but -- "how do you know what's going on in the world?"). Readers of this newspaper might be similarly astonished to hear that print news sources do indeed exist.\nI remember several of my peers protesting to me, "TV is educational!" I think they were actually trying to be serious when they said this. Really, if you can convince me that most people watch TV primarily for the History Channel and Bill Nye the Science Guy, your persuasive skills (and ability to deceive, perhaps?) should make you an excellent lawyer.\nOn the contrary, statistic after statistic suggests that television content is laden not with fascinating factoids but with violence and sexuality. Though television is by no means the only disturbing influence in our society, its nature is uncommonly insidious. The way a TV set resides in the home like some permanent honored guest seems almost to suggest that it bears an implicit parental sanction as it pumps its vivid scenes of mayhem and moral shortfall at young children.\nNaturally, parents have some control over what and how much their children watch. However, attempting to limit access to offensive content attacks only one symptom of an epidemic. For even if TV programs contained absolutely nothing I found objectionable, I would still choose not to own a television. I dislike the blaring noises and images that invade my home. I dislike the relentless barrage of commercials that fosters an empty materialism. I dislike the passive nature of the medium that encourages mental submission and physical sloth. I'm grateful to be a human rather than a slug, and I'd prefer to remain that way, thank you very much.\n It could be argued that television is a huge part of our culture, providing many reference points to which people across the country can relate. As one left on the outside of many a jokes about beer commercials, I don't deny that television exerts a broad cultural influence. But I deny that this is a good thing. Sitting impassively before a TV screen watching the same show without interacting -- what a gloriously unifying experience! Manufactured, homogenized TV shows -- can our culture possibly ascend to any loftier heights?\nConsidering how far we've come in the last 50 years, one can only hope that the next 50 years will bring still "greater" cultural triumphs.