Excessive Television Viewing

Excessive Television Viewing

TV or not TV? -That's the question. We may not all be Hamlet, but we

all struggle with our own existential issues and since television

plays a major role in our existence it becomes an issue. The days are

long past when we could consider TV to be an innocent, innocuous part

of daily life or a casual baby-sitter. It is a powerful, persuasive

teacher and a primary companion for children, many of whom spend more

time in front of the television than in school. Considering that some

members of the average family watch more than seven hours of

television per day, it is not surprising that contemporary research

indicates that human development and behaviour are affected by

television to a degree far exceeding earlier judgments.

Unfortunately, this medium, which has been used for much good, has

increasingly been misused. The number of programmes and commercials

that conflict with gospel standards are steadily rising, and few

viewers demonstrate enough self-discipline to resist. Some of us don't

even realize what hidden messages we're receiving-and little by little

we subconsciously come to accept them as normal or appropriate.

There is a large body of research that documents the way in which

exposure to television influences children generally, and much of this

relates to the effects of exposure to violent content in programming.

Children who view programmes where violence is very realistic,

frequently repeated or left unpunished, are more likely to imitate

what they observe on television. The impact of television violence may

be immediately evident in a child's behaviour or it may surface years

later. Chi...

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...gative effect on children. Programmes like the "Teletubbies"

and "Boo-Bahs" have been shown to cause a steady rise in speech

impediments, as proper vocabulary has not been demonstrated, with

"Eh-Ho" replacing "hello." Hence the underlying, negative aspects

outweigh even issues that are supposed to be in favour of television.

Excessive TV viewing is a behaviour pattern acquired by frequent

repetition that sometimes becomes involuntary. For many families,

watching television is more than a habit; it's a dependency, marked by

withdrawal and dysfunction when the TV set is not available. It is

becoming a pattern that requires diligent effort to break. In effect,

when taken to excess, the impact television has on a person is

undoubtedly pessimistic; it certainly can give someone a thoroughly

dull mind and a huge waistline.