It’s that time of year again. A day set aside for parents to give their kids a less than gentle nudge out the door in an effort to encourage physical activity. Only today said parents actually get help from the very thing that often promotes their kids’ sedentary lifestyle—-the TV. Specifically, the kid-centric cable powerhouse Nickelodeon, and its virtually endless array of offshoots, Nicktoons, Nick Jr. and TeenNick.
Yes, dear parents, today is “Worldwide Play Day.”
For the past seven years, Nickelodeon has pulled the plug on its entire media dynasty from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and it plans to do the same today.
So what does that mean for your little couch potatoes?
For some parents it means dealing with cranky kids who don’t understand why their favorite network, which provides them with indoor entertainment 24/7 nearly 365 days a year is going dark for a portion of the day.
To add fuel to the fire, the cable network is also shutting down their associated websites for a portion of the day, so your tweens can get their iCarly and SpongeBob fix via their smartphones.
This pre-planned unplugging will either mean that your kids will suck up four hours worth of fresh air or give Disney Channel a bunch of business today.
Did I mention that First Lady (and mom to two young daughters) Michelle Obama is also playing a part in the “Worldwide Day of Play”? Mrs. Obama will symbolically pull the plug on Nickelodeon and its sister networks.
In a taped message, the Mrs. Obama tells Nick viewers to “get ready to shut down your computers, put down your cellphones and turn off your TVs.”
Call me a cynic, but how does four hours constitute an entire day? If you are going to make a huge production about the “Worldwide DAY of Play,” then why not make it at least eight hours?
Then again, if you have to rely on a bunch of network execs to turn off their stream of revenue to get your kid to play outside, then you probably have bigger problems to deal with.
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