Last November, Irene Pinner, a primary schoolteacher, and mum to Molly, 15 and John, 14, committed what most of us would consider the ultimate domestic atrocity - she banned the telly. All three came into the Home Truths studio to talk about That Day...
Molly, the Pinner’s fifteen year old daughter was the catalyst which caused a great change in the family’s viewing habits. Molly freely admits that her television watching habits had got out of control, and that she was watching the box rather than doing her homework. It all came to a head at the beginning of November. Irene explains, "We went to a parents’ evening. We knew Molly hadn’t been wonderful, but as we went round each of the teachers it got more and more distressing."
It was in the car on the way home that the Big Idea was born, "I suggested to my husband that we should get rid of the television for a while." Molly’s after-school life is busy with drama, singing, music, and television watching on top of that just tipped the balance - the homework didn’t get done. "The drama and music are more important than the television any day," says Molly, who seems to take the whole thing very calmly. She assured us she wasn't just saying that because her mum was in the studio with her.
John, at fourteen is more disgruntled about the lack of television, but he too is fairly sanguine about the missing box, only occasionally using very gentle blackmail with his sister to get his own way - after all it was Molly’s shoolwork that prompted the situation.
Molly’s surprised at how easy she’s found it to adjust to life without television. John missed it more, "At first it was terrible and I was really bored in the evenings. One Friday, Mum went to Tescos without me! It was the only entertainment I had lined up for the evening!" Molly’s even enthusiastic about their re-vamped evenings, "There’s such a wide variety of programmes now, that kids watch different things from the parents - and they hardly sit around and talk together. We do talk a lot more now and play board games together...
But how do John and Molly deal with the "Did you see...?" questions from their friends at school the next day. John simply says, "I didn’t see it." He expalins, "I couldn’t be bothered to answer all the questions about why my parents had taken the television away." One of John’s friends did have a go at the Pinner parents, "Callum came to me," says Irene, "And said ‘It’s diabolical taking the tv away.’ - I liked someone saying what they actually think!"
Molly’s work has improved. Her end of term results are due in January. The television is due to be re-instated after Molly’s exams in May, but Irene has plans for it keeping it out of the sitting room, "I think television’s great, but there are other things to do - I’d like to make a spare room in the basement so you have to make an effort to watch television.
