FOR many parents the idea of their children having a day without television would seem farfetched, but to go for a month would be totally unbelievable.

James Hore

FOR many parents the idea of their children having a day without television would seem farfetched, but to go for a month would be totally unbelievable.

However about 30 youngsters have done just that after an unusual challenge set by their karate school.

Not only did the seven to 14-year-olds from Colchester Karate Academy manage without their favourite TV shows, they also had to switch off mobile phones and other electronic games.

However, it was not all plain sailing with some parents reporting that the experiment was driving them mad whilst one youngster told the EADT yesterday that it had been “horrible”.

Rowan Scott, 10, who has autism, found the challenge particularly difficult as he likes watching certain movies or parts of films repeatedly.

“It's the worst challenge ever. It was horrible,” he said.

Mel McSweeney's son, Ben, nine completed the challenge but she said it had been tougher than expected for the parents.

She said: “Ben probably completed the challenge with less effort than us, we realised it is very easy to say to him 'go and put the TV on for a while'.

“We had to make a determined effort not to say this. He has amazed us with making up imaginative games with the Lego and playmobile which is now all over the house - he has also done lots of reading when normally he would be playing his Game Boy and he has done lots of outdoor play.”

Land� Fourie , who runs the club, said the children kept diaries of the challenge designed to make them “more creative” in their lives.

She said: “Initially the opposition from both parents and children were heavy - children who didn't want to miss out on playing computer games with their friends or watch films, and parents, who use the television as a distraction to enable them to get on with other household tasks.

“However, once they all got use to the idea, they embraced it fully. Now at the end of the challenge, feedback is positive on all fronts, except only one parent who jokingly complained, saying “it's driving me nuts”.

“Even the children, who thought they would find the challenge very difficult, are now admitting it's nowhere near as hard as they thought it would be. Most parents said how easy the kids found it despite initial protest and they really thought the children would give them a hard time about it.”

Some of the children managed just a day or two, others for a week or so, but more than 30 children of the 200 pupils managed the complete month.