Television is evil. The older I get, the more I come to realize I have wasted far too much of my life on TV.

Most of the material offered as television entertainment is a disease that infects the American population. Aside from news coverage and sporting events, there are very few programs that merit any kind of viewing.

“Reality TV,” “American Idol” and the random sitcom that only lasts one month before it gets canceled all need to be stricken from people’s daily routines.

“Reality TV” isn’t all that real, “American Idol” is just plain annoying and sitcoms are less funny every episode without movie stars trying to revive their careers with guest appearances.

I can’t help but wonder how much better of a person I would be today if I hadn’t been a routine watcher of “Home Improvement” or “Family Matters.”

The countless hours I spent watching the “Tool Man” and Steve Urkel could have been spent doing something much more productive and meaningful.

Maybe I would have been a better high school soccer player or learned something more useful than what I shouldn’t do while making home repairs. Who really knows, but this story is something to learn from.

I have a friend who did an experiment to see why other friends really came over to his house. His house used to be the place where we would go when nothing else was going on, which in my town was almost every night.

Most of the time people would just come over, sit on the couch in his room and then proceed to watch TV until they got bored and wanted to return to their own homes.

During this time, very little is said and very little is accomplished. After the removal of the TV, he found a great decline in the people who came over, and if people did stop by, they left earlier than usual.

It is sad to see how much our friendships were based on TV and when that evil electric box was substituted for a deck of cards, how few people wanted to be around.

This made my friend realize who really was his friend and who wasn’t. He hasn’t regretted the change and said he would much rather read a good book than spend a half hour watching a pointless TV program.

This experiment has also caused a change in my routine. I already watch very little TV because of my busy schedule, but out of nowhere I became interested in reading.

During Winter Break, I willingly entered a book store on more than one occasion, something I hadn’t done since the days of reading the Bernstein Bears and Dr. Suess.

I have never been one who was interested in reading books for entertainment and can’t remember the last time I read one from beginning to end that wasn’t required in a class.

Almost everyone has a “can’t miss” TV show, but when someone has 10 “can’t miss” shows, that person better be evaluating his or her social life a little.

My friend’s experiment can be a good lesson to all, and people should try to see how different their lives are if they turn off their TV from time to time.

People need to live more and sitting in front of a TV is definitely not the way to do it. Take the “growing lazy American tag” away from us and do something useful with your time.