Thu. Apr 25th, 2024

Here is a horrifying fact: common room television rules actually used to control how much television Deerfield students watched. Today, with nearly every show online, students can watch unlimited television in their own dorm rooms.

Many students admitted to watching up to ten hours of T.V. per week, religiously following six or more shows; most T.V. watching occurs online when the common room television is off-limits. While this is an obvious distraction from academics, online television also replaces exercise and outdoor time for some.

We are not advocating an end to common room T.V. restrictions or increased control of our internet. However, this presents an opportunity for improvement. If we manage our time responsibly, we can cut back on television, study when our hall residents think we are studying, sleep for a decent number of hours… and still manage to catch the latest episode of Glee.

As Mr. Warsaw encourages us to stop multi-tasking, and as Dr. Curtis graces us with a schedule that allows for more sleep, television seems like an enemy to our success. What are our priorities as a community? Gossip Girl or English paper?