Television: Our Nations Drug of Choice
Television is our era’s escape from what we now consider a chaotic struggle of life. I think we as a people feel life can be solved in an hour long Monday night special and that exact attitude is our society’s problem today. Frankly we are a group of cowards who do not take the bull by the horns; rather we retreat to routine episode line up that we can supposedly relate to. Ladies and gentlemen we need to break free like Plato’s slave in the myth of the cave, by realizing that life is not “Ragged, loose and something hard to cope with” (Dove) but rather a beautiful journey far off into the beyond.
“Over ninety-eight percent of homes in
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In this specific case though we
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look for the newer episode that fills in the void we are left with by last week’s cliff hanger.
TV gazing can be detrimental to the human body. The body burns calories to a large extent slower because of the immobility of watching the tube. Body metabolism and calorie-burning is an average of 14.5 percent lesser when watching TV than when basically lying down in bed. A good question to ask as well is, mentally what does the television shows do to our children’s ability to function in the world? Kids, mainly girls, are a more likely than grown-ups to be portrayed as sufferers of brutality on the box, and this can make them more terrified of the world they live in, rendering them incapable of normal functions, such as commuting to work, walking in parks, etc. etc. Some of the most violent TV shows are children's cartoons (Dragon Ball Z, Batman, Looney Tunes), in which violent behavior is seen as cool and at time entertaining—and the real outcome of bloodshed are not really revealed, leaving today’s youth to make their own ending to the coyote’s unfortunate plummet 100 stories up.
Whatever happened to the inevitable but informative “Birds and the Bees” speech from our parents? Youngsters nowadays are surrounded with sex symbols, sexual references and images in all popular fads whether it be television, advertisements, magazines, movies,
on television they are more likely to imitate such acts at a younger age. When children watch violent shows they become more aggressive and they have more violent tendencies. Children view characters in T.V. shows as their role models when they see them doing risky acts they think that it is normal behavior, and are more likely to mimic the acts in their preteen years. Physiologist have linked childhood exposure to violence through media.When children watch television shows that are too mature for them they are more likely to see the world as a scary unsafe place. Even television that is designed for kids can send a message that fighting and destroying things is fun and acceptable.”Children under (age) 2 learn a lot by facial expression, tone of voice, and body language — much of which doesn’t translate well on a flat screen, especially in animated or cartoon form.”(Darice).Many shows today paint an unrealistic picture of what teen agers should look like and be like. When young kids see such things they are more likely to to try to live up to these standards even if that means taking substances or starving themselves to do it. Too much T.V. time can also lead to behavioral problems such as attention deficit disorder commonly known as ADD. Children who consistently watch four hours of television a day are more likely to be overweight. Physical activity is getting pushed aside in favor of Television shows
How many people today watch family sitcoms to imitate or compare values with their own? Probably not as many as there were in the 1950s. In Stephanie Coontz's "What We Really Miss about the 1950s", she discusses why people feel more nostalgic towards growing up in the 1950s, and how she disagrees that 1950s wasn't the decade that we really should like or remember best. Apart from economic stability, family values played an important part then. Through television sitcoms, such as "Leave it to Beaver", "Father knows Best", families watched them to make sure they were living correctly. It was like guidance and somewhat reassurance. However, values of families have changed, and this is shown on sitcoms today. We watch sitcoms today for
The main reason we watch TV is for entertainment where we can view shows and movies. Shows and movies expose individuals to a variety of cultures and values that they do not see often. Another use of television is for information such as news, political views, and advertisements. Televisions inform us of news around our community and world, and also persuade us in buying products or donating money to a cause. An ongoing controversy has risen such tha televisions can be harmful to children because of the vulgar language and violence shown through modern day shows or even celebrities. Viewing too much television can be time consuming and may even discourage children to go play outside and be social. Watching the newscast has changed my life by informing me of the violence that goes on throughout my community. Also, a negative effect of watching too much television has taken up my time when I could have been doing more productive tasks.
Television has been criticized as “a vast cultural wasteland”. Tv is supposed to be something that people use for fun and entertainment not a way to get away from your problems. Now with that being said this quote is trying to say that tv is useless. I think the reason that some people think that tv is useless is because of shows like SpongeBob and family guy. Sponge bob is a very popular kids show that has been around for years but doesn’t benefit the people watching it in anyway. In fact, watching a cartoon like SpongeBob can damaged the mind of many people and children with the stupidity that’s done on the show. Then you have a show like family guy where the things done can be called stupid but at the same time the things done are realistic but the only problem with a show like that is that it’s very inappropriate for kids to watch because of all the inappropriate behavior and violence that that is shown in a show like that. Another problem with tv isn’t the tv it’s the people. The shows are there to watch and to enjoy but it’s up to the person to watch it or the parent to allow their child to watch that. I don’t think that tv is a vast cultural wasteland because there are many different thins to see and watch and learn you just have to watch the right shows and use the right channels. Sometimes watching tv can even be fundamental.
Television is the mainstream of our culture. Violence on television has been a topic of conflict since before 1950. There have been repeated debates on how to protect children from the harmful effects of violence on television. Television is one form of modern media that influences the everyday lives of people. Televised violence has a major effect on how children perceive the world and how they behave. "American television has become the most violent in the world. It is for this reason why researchers have focused their attention toward television violence" (Cantor & Hoffner 424-4-25). Children enjoy watching television and now with the increased technology of cable and movie
Does violence on television have a negative effect on children and teenagers? The violence seen on television has had surprising negative effect. Violence shown on television causes children and teenagers to develop behavioral problems and learning disabilities. Such behavioral and learning problems include; language development, school performance / learning, cognitive development and their general behavior to others (Kinnear 27). In a study on the correlation between violence and television done with 1,565 teenage boys over a six-year period in London, William Belson, a British psychologist, found that every time a child saw someone being shot or killed on television they became less caring towards other people. William Belson also
What role does television play in society? For decades we have seen many parts of our world rapidly going through changes in technology. Today’s society has been transformed by means of communication and the available information through mass media. Most Americans rely on television for news, sports, and entertainment. Television is just one of the many examples of how technology has changed our lives. Since the invention of the television in the early 1900’s, it has played a very important role in our lives. Having a television set in the home has become very essential in today’s society. We depend on it to entertain us with its sitcoms and to inform us about current world issues. The
* Television watching also promotes lack of creativity and enhances passivity. The child shies away from mental and physical workout.
The first reason tv and other types of media is so toxic to us is the amount of time we the average american spends on it is absolutely outrageous. A study was shown in this is your teen on screens that says that only 20% of teen and kids get the nine hours of sleep that are needed for that age and 45% get less than 8 hours a night. This fact really shows how much time we
Can T.V. shows be the reflection of our society or influence the behavior of the members of our community? Since 1936 when television broadcasting begin, it priority was to inform and to entertain our society; subsequently, a massive amount of rules and regulations were created to control the material presented in TV, which principal goal was to safeguard the moral and ethical standards of it time. Nevertheless, from its beginning to the present home entertainment television standards contents have change; likewise, the moral an ethics values of our society have change and continuing changing from generation to generation. TV shows from the 50’s, 80’s, and the present exposed many changes in the way human role are exposed, the language
Television is especially influential on the children of today. Thirty years ago, not every home had a television; they were considered a luxury that only the rich could afford. Now, most households have two televisions and children watch them incessantly. Many children's programs are extremely violent and a child can learn violent behavior from watching these programs. For example, about a month ago, in Norway, a small girl was beaten, stripped, and left to die by three boys aged 5, 6, and 6. When asked why
History of television and its influence on people lives. How did television revolutionize the world?
Over the last forty to fifty years, television has been a major topic of discussion. Specifically, many debate societal benefits to television watching. One widely accepted opinion is that watching TV makes people dumber. People have referred to it with terms like the “idiot box” and do not feel that watching TV has any benefit at all. They feel that it is a waste of time and people need to spend their hours more wisely. Others are of the opinion that TV is actually has societal benefits. From this perspective, they claim that the development of the structure of the programs now requires one to intellectually participate in watching television. Essentially, the argument is whether TV is a beneficial societal force or is it simply a
Due to violence on television, children become less sensitive to that pain and suffering of others or to become more aggressive to others. It also makes children more fearful to the world around them. (Abelard 1) Viewing habits of children observed for many decades deduced that violence on TV is associated with aggressive behavior, more than poverty, race, or parental behavior. It also reported that a TV show contains about 20 acts of violence an hour.
What do we really mean by television? The way we watch television has drastically changed over the last fifteen years due to new technologies such as digital television and services providing on-demand access. These drastic changes have had a huge effect on viewers and have “allowed online streaming platforms to dominate and revolutionize the way the audience consumes” (Aliloupour) media, ultimately allowing the viewer to be in total control of how, when and where they want their content. The idea of only being able to watch television on a television set is now a thing of the past. Due to technology, the audience now has a vast variety of options on how they can access content. By using scholarly articles, research in new media and Internet sites I will be analyzing current television and where the future of television will be heading.