Negative Effects of Television
I hear the door slam abruptly and a thud from something hitting the ground. It’s about 3:15, so my sister should be home. I bring her backpack into the living room as I see her fixated on the television. I tell her to put it away and she says ok, whatever. She gets to her room and not two seconds later does her TV click on in her room. I ask her if she wants to play catch, “No that’s alright.” She always loved to play catch, what about some basketball I ask her, “No, maybe some other time,” she says as her eyes are glued to the box. Is television so addictive that it makes everything else look unattractive? It is very well maybe Marie Winn agrees; she names television the “plug-in drug.” Although not as lethal as drugs and alcohol, television can have many effects too, and not necessarily good ones. According to authors in this section television has made reality seem second best, children more violent, and has made reality a world of advertisement.
First, television has made reality seem second best. The real world is filled with many emotions including anxiety, depression, and stress. Who wants to deal with any of these problems? You’ve had a hard day at work, so why not flick on the television and not worry about anything? As Marie Winn describes, “the television experience allows the participant to blot out the real world and enter into a pleasurable and passive mental state.” For some people life without a television is less than complete. Winn says television will lead to the addiction of it because it becomes part of your life, and soon the real world is too boring to live in all the time. Winn observes a heavy viewer and they find the television irresistible, when it’s on they can’t ignore it, and can’t turn it off. Winn also says that with television pleasures available and other experiences seem less attractive. The viewer eventually gets so addicted that they put off all other activities and feel that they can live in a less careless style. On the same note Rita Dove agrees with Winn by saying, ”It’s not that we confuse television with reality. But that we prefer it to reality-the manageable struggle resolved in twenty-six minutes.”(Dove p408) People like to see the climax, stress and problem solved in a short period of time. Dove says that television an easier tale to tell, her daughter can recite a t...
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...d try to promote a lifestyle for other people. Why go search for answers to personal problems? Advertisers want to provide the answers for you on the television. If you have heartburn: buy Tums, are you hungry? Drive your new PT Cruiser to McDonalds or Pizza Hut and try the new menu. Mander states, “While watching television, the programs are together with the conscious attitude of promoting a consumer society. (Mander p2) Television gives you no control of the images they put up, so every time you change they channel your really watching the same thing. Television watching is a passive activity, and is filled with other people’s thoughts and images.
In short, all authors will agree that television is a very wicked and powerful tool. By watching television it can influence you to thinking reality is not good enough just so they can boost their ratings in their shows. Children have become more violent and more fearful of crime and the world itself, advertisement on television is getting worse by the day, with more twenty-second commercials that don’t allow you to think. It is really a form of sleep teaching because you are not active, therefore calling it programming.
In “The Plug-in Drug”, author Marie Winn attempts to reason with the reader to persuade them that watching television --- even “good” programs --- is harmful to children. She also uses counter arguments debunk current beliefs about children and television.
It may be hard to admit, but television has become an intricate part of our everyday lives. People children often find themselves sitting in front of the television screen for a longer period of time than before and this has evolved immensely over the past few years. In this article, “The Trouble with Television,” by the author Marie Winn, mentions that addiction of television is negative effects on children and families. It keeps the families from doing other things and it’s a hidden competitor for all other activities. Television takes place of play and on top of that kids who watch a lot of television grow uncivilized. Also, the author mentioned that televisions are less resourceful for children and have negative effects on children’s school achievement and on physical fitness. Although there are so many other types of addictions but the author Marie Winn’s points of argument of watching television is a serious addiction that our children and families have negative effects.
In an article ' The Plug-In Drug ' the author Marie Winn discusses the bad influence of television on today's society. Television is a ' drug ' that interfere with family ritual, destroys human relationships and undermines the family.
The entertainment that television is now portraying is not exactly what the younger society of America needs to be exposed to, but unfortunately in today's economy that is the only kind of entertainment that sells. There is so much unnecessary exposure to violence, aggressive behavior, and sexual acts now being broadcasted daily on television, movies, music, and even the news. The broadcasting systems are now targeting younger children and teens. The crime rates have skyrocketed due to delinquent juvenile behavior over the past ten years. The whole viewing society is now becoming very tolerant and at ease with sex and violence. Youth and children are picking up on these behaviors daily. Studies have shown that by the age of 18, the average American teen will have viewed around 200,000 acts of violence on television. The violence and sexual content that television and music are now portraying has negatively influenced younger children and teens to commit murder, exhibit aggressive behavior, and become tolerant of violence and sex.
As many people know modern television produces many good and bad consequences to the viewer. However, as a whole, the positive effects of TV clearly out weight the negative ones. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s passage, The Worst Years of Our Lives, she asserts that what’s being televised, immobilizes the viewer from actually doing the activities portrayed on TV. Yet, all the events on television have been imitated from what is going on in real life. Television is not something that drains a person from everyday activities, but something that encourages them to try new ones and escape the crazy, stressful moments of life. Not only is TV something that exemplifies new hobbies that can be taken on, but it is also a moment where a family can come together and laugh at all those funny moments in Full House and The Simpsons. Lastly, and possibly most importantly it informs people on what’s going on around
First of all, Neil points out how the television warping human desire. For example, Neil quoted, “The commercial asks us to believe that all problems are solvable, that they are solvable fast, and that they are solvable fast through the interventions of technology, techniques and chemistry. This is, of course, a preposterous theory about the roots of discontent, and would appear so to anyone hearing or reading it” (Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil, 130-131). Neil’s quote demonstrates how
In this middle ground, the amount of television watched is moderate, sometimes just turning on the set to catch tomorrow’s weather or the latest sports score, other times sitting down for an extended period. Those in the middle ground don’t believe that television is a total waste of time, but neither is television the main part of their day. These are the folks who remain active and healthy. They are the people who realize that, while there are certainly some negative effects of television, television is not all bad.
Primarily, the domination power television has on its viewers is incomparable to the one drugs have over their addicts. First, addicts to television are not dominated in the same level addicts to drugs are. Hamill says that television absorbs its viewers in the same way drugs absorb their users because both television and drugs cultivate asocial behaviors in people (63, 64). Departing from this idea, it may seem reasonable to say that addicts to television and drugs both portrait unsocial attitudes, but doesn't this happen with any other kind addiction? Here Hamill is isolating a generalization which intention is to proclaim an assumption to be true. In his example, Hamill explains how some Americans fight their loneliness by leaving their TV sets on as companion (63). Instead of support Hamill's idea this example shows how Americans fulfill their vacancy of company rather than how Americans become lonely due to television. Second, independent studies on television do not qualify to determine the relation betwe...
In “Television Harms Children”, Ann Vorisek White claims that the intellectual and cognitive development of children who frequently watch television is threatened. To support this claim, she points to the findings that “the more television children watch, the weaker their language skills and imaginations” (White, 2006). Before the brain fully matures around age 12, it is in the stage of rapid development. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “recommends that children under the age of two not watch TV or videos, and that older children watch only one to two hours per day of nonviolent, educational TV” (White, 2006). A study from the AAP (as cited in White, 2006) found that the average American child watches four hours of television every day. Considering "expression and reasoning are not automatic" abilities, young children who routinely watch television eventually become "passive and nonverbal" to stimuli in their environment (White, 2006). Since the normality of curiosity and imaginations of young children are the foundation of how they learn, remaining passive for extended periods of time affects their intellectual and moral development.
Before television existed people had to depend on Radio stations to receive their little bit of entertainment and news. But in 1878, the invention of TV began. The first TV made didn’t look anything like the way TV’s look today. It was a mechanical camera with a large spinning disc attached to it (Kids Work). But as over the years, of course, inventions of different TV’s progressed and by the 20th century about 90 percent of our population had a TV in their household (MGHR). Television today is mainly used for people take a break from their life by relaxing and enjoying some entertainment.
In the argumentative essay “T.V. Addiction” by Marie Winn, Winn relates watching television to having an addiction with drugs and alcohol. The television experience allows us to escape from the real world and enter into a pleasurable and peaceful mental state. When it comes to television, Marie asks the following question: Is there a kind of television viewing that falls into the more serious category of destruction addiction? I believe there is. Why do so many people, instead of doing what they’re supposed to be doing, put everything on hold and just focus on television? I think this is because they want an escape from their problems.
American pop culture has come a long way in the last few decades: from the rock 'n’ roll boom of the fifties, to the hippie aesthetic of the seventies, to the electronic age of the nineties. Pop culture clearly fluctuates at a rapid pace and even though fads have come and gone, one thing has remained viable even in more contemporary times: the TV set. On top of that, never has the world seen a greater peak in technology than it has in recent years, and the television is no exception. Unfortunately, as fascinating as these advancements may sound, it is generally presumed that the television—as with much modern pop culture tech—has had and continues to have detrimental effects on Western culture. Given that the TV has been a predominant force for the last sixty years, it’s safe to assume that most have heard the pervasive statement of how television "rots your brain.” By contrast, the benefits of this technology are rarely discussed and when the topic does arise, it seems to be hastily dismissed as “phooey.” Despite these labels, some would argue that television pop culture not only provides a form of recreational relaxation, but also has the potential to enhance cognitive capabilities.
Without a doubt, television is the central and principal form of communication in many people’s lives. This form is most often exposed to a child who instantly becomes accustomed to its presence. Children are televisions largest audience, as Morris shows, “Children aged two to five look at the TV tube on an average of 28.4 hours a week; those between the ages of six and eleven average 23.6 hours a week”. Television has played an important role in many children’s lives and its viewing has been a favorite activity for many of them. The effects of television on children have been disputed. Some people have said that viewing time has a negative impact on children. Other people, however, feel that the early educational television productions for children help tehm learn.
In “Television Addiction” by Marie Winn, the author suggests that TV addiction and Drug and Alcohol addiction are similar in many ways. First she explains what she considers to be a serious drug addiction, such as not feeling normal without them, the need to repeat it, ignoring other pleasurable experiences, never being satisfied, damaging one’s life and ruining relationships. Then she asks us to consider the television addiction in the same light and explains why she feels that it should be. In my experience I can see how television viewing would be considered an addiction and why Winn would too. When someone allows an activity to negatively affect their productivity, relationships and
Watching television is one of the most popular pastimes in the world. Almost all children do so; some even take the liberty of slipping out of bed unnoticed at night just to watch a show that they like. However, what most people do not realize is that television can ruin your eyesight, cause lack of concentration and can also inculcate many bad habits, especially in young ones. Discoveries and invention of devices are always welcome till we, humans, find a way to abuse its benefits and be adversely affected by it. This was the case when Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-ray and within five years, the British Army was using a mobile x-ray unit to locate bullets and shrapnel in wounded soldiers in the Sudan. television was also invented with positive thoughts in mind – there would be no national borders, education and communication would be worldwide, etc.