Students not watching television for better grades - by choice

She loves Animal Planet and ABC Family, but for the sake of good grades and her church, Kourtnee Sweat, 10, is giving up weekday TV for the whole school year.

She's not alone. Tonight, a dozen or more youths at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Norfolk are expected to sign a contract in front of their parents and congregants, pledging video abstinence.

That means no television. No Internet video. No DVDs.

"Our grades are supposed to improve when we don't turn on the TV," said Sweat, who's entering the fifth grade at Ghent Elementary School.

The Rev. James Webb said the church expects that children unplugged from video will spend more time doing homework and will perform better at school.

The pledge also obliges parents to spend more time with their children after school, he said.

"If the parents will spend one hour a day with their kids, checking homework, looking at school work, it'll be an absolutely phenomenal outcome," he said.

The church, in the Berkley section of Norfolk, also promises tangible rewards for the children.

Bicycles will be awarded to elementary and middle school students who complete the year long ban with high marks. High-schoolers will get laptop computers, and seniors who graduate with honors will get a free trip to South Africa.

The prizes will cost Antioch between $25,000 and $30,000; the money will come from tithes and offerings, Webb said. Contributions from non-members are welcome, he said.

The video ban is less about religion than the c hurch's historical support for education.

"It has always been a force in the life of African-American children," Webb said. "That's where we got the inspiration to excel in school, from our churches."

Today's contract-signing caps a week of programs teaching Antioch's youngsters about public speaking, money management, gang awareness, writing, time management and healthful snacks.

The events also include talks by a Norfolk policeman, a sheriff's deputy and a School Board member. A physician and a retired Navy lieutenant who both grew up at Antioch also will speak.

Antioch parents, including Pamela Smith, Kourtnee's mother, said the formal contract and congregational setting will help teach their children about accountability.

"Whenever she may want to watch TV, she'll think, 'I signed this contract in front of my mom and pastor and a roomful of people - I have to stay responsible,' " Smith said of her daughter.

Delphine Tucker said her children - Michael, a 14-year-old at Maury High School, and Michelle, a 17-year-old Granby High student - acceded to the contract without complaint.

"At this point, many of our children really do want to be successful and are looking for adults and people to help them be successful," Tucker said.

That describes Kourtnee, who's favorite school subject is math. "I'd rather improve my grade-point average instead of watching TV," she said.

Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com