Bermuda can pat itself on the back following a recent survey that showed the Island is among the most technologically advanced in the world when it comes to telephone lines, Internet usage and personal computer ownership. But one statistic in the World Economic Forum survey should be cause more for embarrassment than pride. It showed that there are 108 televisions on the Island for every 100 persons - the highest rate in the world.

Television watching, unlike using the Internet, is an essentially passive activity. Are we such couch potatoes that we need (by some estimates) three TVs in every household?

The statistic makes it no surprise that literacy rates are lower than they should be, that we eat too much and that we don't exercise enough. All may be symptoms of prosperity, but turning off the TV for a couple of hours in the evening and spending time together as families, reading or doing an activity together would probably do wonders for the community.

Every year, Bermuda holds a turn off the TV week. Perhaps it should be a month long this year.