A Year without TV

Ryan Ruby is ten years old. He loves to watch TV. But for one full year, he did not watch TV at all. What was the reason? Ryan’s parents said they would give him $600 if he didn’t watch TV for a year.

Ryan’s parents thought he watched too much TV. One day his mother saw a newspaper story about a boy who didn’t watch TV for a year. She showed the story to Ryan. “It was a joke,” his mother said. “I didn’t think he would do it.” But Ryan liked the idea. He turned off the TV right away. He said, “It doesn’t bother me not to watch TV. I just want the money.”

At first, Ryan’s parents were very happy. Ryan read the newspaper, played outside, played computer games, and played cards with his mother. But after a while, he got bored. Every evening, he asked his parents, “What are we doing tonight?” Sometimes his mother and father wished he would watch TV, just for one evening. Ryan always said, “No, it would cost me money!”

Finally the year was over. Then Ryan started watching his favorite TV shows all day long again. Ryan got the money from his parents. What does he plan to do with the $600? “I want to buy myself a TV set!” he said.