I e-met Robert Kesten, ED of the Center for Screentime Awareness, through the founder of “TV Turnoff Week”, Henry LaBalme.  I met Henry when I was 16-years-old, because he came to my high school to accept an alumni recognition award for his service to the community.

I talked to Henry in the dining hall after his acceptance speech and told him I had heard about Turnoff Week before and planned to participate, because I had read about it in Adbusters magazine.  He asked where I found a copy of Adbusters in rural Connecticut, and was relatively blown away to find out that the school’s library carried the counter-culture magazine.  A high point of a 16-year-old’s life.

Little did I know that my socially conscientious behavior – kids in middle school teased me by calling me “GreenPeace” because of my social activism – would one day be seen as emblematic of my generation!  I was pleasantly surprised to see an article on the changes in MTV’s programming to more “pro-social” shows – why?  Because of us millenials, of course.  But then, this got me really excited:

• “This season, 19 percent fewer households are tuning in on average during prime time than in the 2002-3 season, according to Nielsen Media Research. About 1 million individual viewers, on average, tuned in for prime time in 2002-3, compared with 775,000 this season. MTV executives say a better measure is overall total day ratings, and by this measure MTV is down about 13 percent since 2002-2003.”

Is it possible that fewer people are watching TV?  Robert would know.

Which brings me back to Turnoff Week 2009!  This year’s events kick off with events at Barnes & Nobles around the country, and you can download an organizer’s kit on their website to participate.

It’s funny, but I sorta wish that Screentime.org was better organized.  I know, it’s twisted that I want proponents of getting away from screens to spend more time in front of their screens so I can use their website more easily. But I figure, the faster I can find the info I want on an off-screen Turnoff Week event in my area, the faster I can get out into the sunshine and away from this damned screen.