For years I have been mercilessly lampooned by friends and acquaintances alike for my unorthodox lifestyle choice of having no TV. In an age of increasingly large flat-screens and surround sound which accost you the minute you walk into someone’s house, people regularly look at me like I’m either severely handicapped or chronically hard done by when I mention that I have no television. I can see the mixture of genuine pity, raw pathos and sheer disbelief in their faces as they stare at me open-mouthed. And no, contrary to the jokes and insinuations from the equally incredulous young people I mentor, it’s not because I can’t afford to pay the TV license. To be sure, television is a great invention, if handled in moderation. The composite etymological derivation (from the Greek and the Latin words—literally meaning "to see from afar") tells of a tremendous technological feat which certainly deserves to be applauded. What’s more, if one is discerning, it can be the source of some quality entertainment, instruction and enjoyment. Some of the nature documentaries and arts programmers on BBC 2 are truly fantastic. But the sad reality is that young people are rarely discerning and, by dint of poor time management skills, often end up wasting an inordinate amount of precious, never-returning time watching trash, their brains wallowing in a trough of mental lethargy. But the sad reality is that young people are rarely discerning and, by dint of poor time management skills, often end up wasting an inordinate amount of precious, never-returning time watching trash, their brains wallowing in a trough of mental lethargy.