My children came home from school last week with a notice from their teachers. Nothing unusual there "¦ But when I saw what was printed on it, I turned pale and nearly passed out.

My family was being invited -- nay, commanded -- to turn off our TVs and other devices with screens (computers, video games, screen doors) for seven full days and nights as part of something called Turn It Off Week. More like "End of Life As We Know It Week."

Never have I received a more rude, pushy and inappropriate suggestion (and I've broken down in Boston traffic before). Never have I heard something so "¦ so un-American. And just plain dangerous.

Peer pressure that I've fought so long against, perhaps the most vile force pushing on school-aged children, was being exerted by the school itself. Watch TV, and your playmates will make fun of you. Your teachers will look down on you. Heck, the principal may even punish you.

Liberal troublemakers kicked up a fuss when the government wanted to simply listen in on our private phone calls, but the same people supported taking away our God-given Constitutional right to watch the "Survivor: Newark" program?

These people are ignoring the inherent goodness of television. Much creative time and energy has gone into producing shows that entertain and, yes, enlighten us. As a child, my only baby sitter was a boxy 19-inch contraption in living color. And it taught me so very much.

I learned parenting skills from Ward Cleaver and Andy Taylor. Learned how to handle money from Thurston Howell III. Speed Racer taught me how to drive. The Fonz taught me the art of seduction. I picked up proper grooming and table manners from Felix Unger.

I learned words that I'd never heard before. I learned never to take a shower at a deserted summer camp. Bad guys always wear black. Never trust a dame. A good pair of glasses can make any super model look ugly and can disguise any superhero's real identity.

As for video games, they develop much needed problem-solving ability and hand-eye coordination. If aliens ever do invade the planet, well, we want our youth trained in every type of possible weapon to defend us.

And the computer, the single most valuable learning device of the 21st century? Did the bankrupt Encyclopedia Britannica people come up with this idea? Do we expect the kids to write their term papers on typewriters? Maybe scratch them out on pieces of bark with chunks of coal?

This isn't just about me. Sure, I worked my whole life for one thing -- an LCD high-definition TV, even before I knew what one was -- and now that I have one, I wasn't supposed to use it? The NBA playoffs were about to start. There was a new episode of "Lost."

Frakking "Battlestar Galactica!" Inconceivable!

But it's not about me. It's about the damage that could be done if this Turn It Off movement catches on. Apparently no one else has thought this through.

Our entire economy, or what's left of it, is predicated on television and the Internet. These venues tell us what to buy, and we do it. That makes the economy go and keeps us from devolving into a third-world country without "Deal or No Deal." No TV, and there are no commercials and no one buys anything. Corporations go out of business, and everyone loses their jobs, and eventually we fall into a civil war.

Without computers and TVs to sell to us, Japan goes bankrupt. The struggling electric companies will lose a huge percentage of their revenue and raise their rates 40 times -- it will cost $14 a day just to run your toaster.