I would like to respond to the March 3 column by George Will who supports discontinuing public television. I support funding from the government that is used for public television.

Public TV is good for families who choose not to or cannot watch cable or satellite channels. I also think that if people do not want public TV funded by the government why not shut down some other government-funded program? There are government-funded programs that only benefit a portion of our population. For those families who cannot pay for satellite or cable channels, public TV provides educational programs.

The quality of public shows is much better than what I have seen on cable and satellite channels. I think the people who choose what shows to air on public TV do a really good job.

The good thing about public TV is that it is only one channel, so if you do not want to watch something you do not flip to another channel and be a couch potato. So with public TV you can become more active. There is less temptation to burn time.

I am 12 years old and home-schooled.

Paul Jans

Whiting