American musician, Jerry Garcia, states, “Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.” This is essentially the underlying principle of comparing two kinds of harmful effects, as one can try outshine the other but will still be detrimental. In the article, “Tune Out, Light Up”, Dave Kopel is trying to persuade readers in the article that watching television is worse than smoking cigarettes. The article poses an overall unsuccessful argument, as it expresses the views thoroughly with certain support and tries to use various appeals but fails to suggest essential evidence and realistic views. This article is trying to show how smoking cigarettes is better than watching television, as it goes into numerous points of how television can destroy many more years off of lives than smoking, making it less preferable than cigarettes. Kopel uses the classical appeals of pathos, …show more content…
This article, “Tune Out, Light Up”, by David Kopel poses an unrealistic and over exaggerated argument of explaining why watching television presents greater harm than smoking cigarettes. Unfortunately, this argument is unsuccessful because of the weak execution but it has potential for success if exaggeration is limited and scientific evidence is given. Referencing journals and clinical research can be beneficial for this argument, since health matters are of concern. Kopel paints individuals with the same brush in this article, and fails to acknowledge the unique details of genetics and specific television channels. This article does promote future talks about how simple leisure activities in life could be far more dangerous than expected, especially when compared with a massive threat. Therefore, if the improvements are specifically made and the writing is more formalized in that regard, then this article can be effective in implementation of the overall
In general, the effects of television and drugs cannot be compared as equivalents; nevertheless, their study is worth of consideration. They are still two mysteries to be solved: why people spend so many hours in front of a TV set instead of doing something proactive and why people seeks refuge in drugs. We may not know all of the answers but we know all the of questions. While we walk towards the light hoping to find the answers to these mysteries, there are still many things to be done. In the meanwhile, one thing must remain in our minds: we will still face many obstacles together as society, with or without television and drugs.
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.
The first rhetorical strategy Springen uses in her argument is citing statistical data about the number of hours children spend watching television, the effects of watching that amount of television, and what the most highly rated television shows are among children. She cites in her essay that “American children 2 through 11 watch three hours and 16 minutes of television every day.” This data shows the reader the staggering amount of time children spend watching television each day. Springen further cites data concluding that when children watch over 10 hours of TV every week “they are more likely to be overweight, aggressive and slow to learn in school.” This data exemplifies to the reader the negative effects television has on young impressionable minds and bodies. Finally, Springen cites that among the top 5 television shows “for children 2 through 11…Survivor Thailand” ranks among them. This data shows that children exposed to television are also being exposed to programming that is far too mature for their age. By citing “bad” data about the way television negatively affects children, Springen persuades the reader in her argument to agree with her position that there is no good reason for her children to watch television on a daily basis.
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.
Herr, Norman. "Television & Health." The Sourcebook for Teaching Science. California State University Northridge, 2007. Web. 9 Mar 2014.
According to scholars, the addiction to television is becoming more and more common worldwide, the more we watch it, the more shortsighted, and narrow-minded we become. Unfortunately, it is fast becoming as popular and dangerous as drugs (Winn 5). According to Winn, those who frequently watch television develop problems with their eyes and back and they may become obese. There is also a lot of time wastage as statistics show that frequent viewers have three or more average hour of daily watching and report their feelings of less productivity after watching. Further observations are that television addicts may become antisocial to themselves, friends, family, and society.
Television was an invention designed to entertain and inform. Created in the 1920s by John Logie Baird, TV has become an indispensable piece of furniture in most American dwellings. Every child, at least once in their lives have heard their mothers tell them that spending long periods of time in front of a screen will damage their brain. Two opposite arguments question all mothers’ hypothesis. Steven Johnson in “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” claims that over the years TV has become more complex. He considers that this complexity forces the brain to work. Dana Stevens in “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” argues that there are many cons in the issue and that watching TV does not make anybody smarter. Instead,
Consistently, everywhere, in this century there seems to be some form of a TV screen. These screens appear in restaurants, schools, at work, at home, and quite possibly more. What is forgotten in society is how that screen may affect the lives of the children in this modern world. When children are constantly watching a television screen there may be consequences to their health and education. Most parents do not have the ability to control what is shown on TV. Many programs disagreeably display marathons after school and during holidays. Supposedly, adult shows are only showed late at night, but with movies becoming more and more explicit, even bed time can’t stop the most determined child. Children’s problems in education and health are a direct result of the amount of TV watched.
Did you know over thirty percent of Americans smoke? Smoking is one of top deaths in America and is easily preventable. Americans today are surrounded by advertisements about smoking. According to ABC News, exposure to cigarette ads leads young people to identify smoking with popularity and relaxation, and these associations are stronger than any perceived risk picked up from anti-smoking ads. ABC News is trying to express how young Americans are influenced to smoke by advertisements. One of the images I chose is against smoking. This image has a young boy smoking a cigarette as the smoke forms a gun. The second image I chose is a positive advertisement about a type of cigarette, which expresses the relaxation of smoking. Comparing and contrasting
Substance abuse does not always come in the form of fine powders, dried herbs, or ferment hops. Equally seductive are the bright lights and blaring sounds of the television. So often it happens that people sit down for their favorite program and do not get back up for hours. They start with the intention of watching one sixty minute show. Then, an advertisement for a new crime drama plays, and they just have to check it out. Not long after, they notice that Turner Classic Movies is playing their favorite childhood film. What they had intended to be an hour becomes five. The dishes never got done, the bills did not get paid, and they have to be up for work in six hours. They decide that they can finish their chores the next day; maybe after the new CSI. Watching television seems harmless. It is just a box after all, what damage can it possibly cause?
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.
Nick Naylor, a lobbyist for Big Tobacco companies uses rhetoric to persuade his audience that smoking is not as unsafe as perceived by the society, by shifting its dangers to unimportant issues. As the lead campaigner for Big Tobacco Companies, he is hired to create a positive image of tobacco thereby maximizing profit for these companies. In the movie “Thank you for smoking,” Naylor employs various fallacies to demonstrate how arguments can distract an audience from their original values, beliefs and concerns.
A research found that participants who watched television for three hours a day had twice the risk of dying during an eight year follow up than those who only watch one hour per day. Watching television can mean inactivity, and inactivity has been lead to heart disease and obesity. Another harmful effect of watching television is that it appears to portray reality and only gives us a small bit of the truth. One of the many reason Shelby believes everything seen on the news is because it requires too much effort to justify if the facts shown are actually true or not. By choosing the easy way, Shelby is also choosing the distorted view of
To many children, TV can be appealing because they find the colorful cartoons interesting and instantly catches their attention. But, as entertaining and fun Television can be, spending too much time looking at your big fifty inch flat screen TV can eventually impact your life. It seems like if you just spend all your time sitting on the couch, you may find yourself preparing fast meals, such as a ham sandwich thrown with some potato chips on a plate or just driving to buying something from McDonald’s. But this can eventually affect your health. If we give Television too much attention it can also affect relationships with parents, siblings or a partner. It can slowly become an easy addiction to come home to, sit on the couch and spend the rest of the day watching all the shows we like. Lastly, too much Television can affect our mood which can lead to certain thinking and
One of the physiological effects of watching television in excessive amounts is eye-strain. It is true that there are specifications for watching television; television should be 5 m. away from the eye, the room should be adequately lit, television should be placed at the same height with our eyes, etc. However, these do not prevent our eyes from getting tired if we keep watching television for a long time. Another effect is obesity, which is widely observed in people who like watching television and eating snacks everyday (there is even a term “television snacks” to refer to fast food that is suitable for eating in front of the television). television is such a powerful machine that people cannot get away from it – it is addictive. Apart from the physiological effects, television also causes psychological effects. One is a result of being exposed to