Elements That Have Changed American Society

By comparing the way people speak about technology with the way they act towards it, the author proves that the knowledge of negative impacts due to electronics is there, but the addiction to them is overpowering. People are becoming less interested in the outside world because they are so obsessed with the new attention grabbers that are being

Over the years, technology has become a great advancement that has led us towards a new way to live our life. We can see that the use of technology has increased as time has passed. Kids as young as 4 years old are exposed to technology such as tablets in order to entertain them. Not only has technology created a way to entertain people, but has also created a way to motivate others, become a convenient tool for those with a limited amount of time and a reliable source for other things. We have become more dependent on technology because of the different ways it can be used such as on the go or right at home. The truth is that technology has positively impacted the lifestyle of Americans.

In the article, The Trouble with Television, Robert Macneil describes his viewpoint on the negative effects of television. He states that “by the age of 20, you will have watched 20,000 hours of television.” The author believes that we waste time that could be used to do more productive things. According to the article, in that time you could have “learned enough to become an astronomer or engineer or be fluent in several different languages.” Another opinion of the author is that Television is one of the main factors of illiteracy. He says that “some 30 million Americans are functionally illiterate, and cannot even understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.”

“Television has changed the American child from an irresistable force to an immovable object.” (Peter). There was a time when all children wanted to do was to run, play, explore, and be adventurous. As time evolved, children have found more interest in television. Statistics show that a child spends 900 hours per year in school,and they spend 1,200 hours per year watching television. When asked to choose between watching T.V. and spending time with their families fifty-four percent of four to six year olds voted they would prefer to watch television. Television has changed the mindset of children over the years it has been proven that the more programs they watch, the more harmful it is to their brain development. T.V.

Secondly, there was a level of criticism brought against television from people who feared that television could, “have an array of devastating effects on family relationship and the efficient functioning of the household.” (Edgerton, p. 94) Also, educators were concerned on children’s increased time watching television. Educators argued that children had to pay full attention to the television, and this took them away from important tasks such as homework. Television response to this was to make television into the daily habit.

In the articles "The Box That Changed America" and "Television Transformed," the author elaborates on how the television has impacted American culture over time. One article directly gives information on how the TV impacts American children, and Americans. "The Box That Changed America" states that "Kids weren't playing outside as often. Commercials for cigarettes and junk food encouraged bad habits" (Tarshis 21). This shows that American's were becoming more attached to their televisions, leaving less time for other things, such as reading. It also shows that commercials could lead people into doing such things they wouldn't do normally. In the other article, the author writes about how new technology changes how Americans watch TV, and

Television is incorporated into my daily routine whether it is watching the news in the morning or a movie at night. When I watch the news in the morning I catch up on current events and other news. On the other hand. At night I watch movies for entertainment and enjoyment. Television is not just changing people into couch potatoes by watching “chasing fast cars, drinking lite beer, shooting each other t close range, etc.”, it also can be a daily tool to learn new things and catch up on current events.

In her essay, “Television changed my family forever” (2003), Linda Ellerbee narrates her family’s experience with owning a television. She talks about how the television have affected her and her family so badly. At first, her family stopped eating together. Her parents stopped buying and reading books. Secondly, her mom quit taking her to the movies.

In the article “The Trouble with Television”, Robert MacNeil explains how television is destroying our society. He states in his article that television is a narcotic, not a stimulus. He also says that it encourages us to apply no effort. He says in his review, television results in inefficient communication. His prospective is that people would rather watch television than talk to others. He also says that we don’t talk as much when we watch television, so therefore talking is in the past.

     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

The Television is often the centerpiece of typical American house. TVs are now a representative the American dream. TVs are even used to measure finical wellbeing. Huge flat screen TVs symbolize success, while smaller TVs represent modesty. People crowd around the TV to watch the big game, to catch up on the news and keep up with pop culture. Is there something wrong with this so-called wonder device known as the Television? Marie Winn, author of book Unplugging the plug-in drug, argues this point in the chapter “The Trouble with Television” claiming that the television negatively affects families and specifically children. Marie Winn is an author and journalist who is known for her write ups on wildlife and television. The book was published in 1987 and describes eight ways in which the television is damaging. Winn makes it a point not to argue against the content of television, but rather how the television effects family relationships and is a detriment to children’s development. While I agree with some of Winn’s, overall, I disagree with her assessment of television. The points that Winn made that I disagree with include, TV allows kids to grow up less civilized, TV keeps family from doing other things, TV makes children less resourceful, TV has a negative effect on children’s school achievement and TV has a negative effect on children’s physical fitness.

What can be the effect of television on people’s lives? People living in these days are addicted to watching TV. However, it is true that watching too much television makes people lose touch with the reality of their lives; they start to see the TV “world” as the real world instead of the world they are living in. This situation divides their loyalties, and all of this is controlled by the people who control the media. Many examples exist in the world that we live and in the world of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. For example, the way the media lies people proves that people are not in the “real” world when they are watching TV and being taught to what had been told to them. Or, people are hooked on television so much that they neglect and

Proponents assert that the act of watching television, an easily modifiable environmental factor, is contributing to the rise in

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

Television is a big part of today’s society. Everybody watches television, including the children. There is a potential problem with letting children watch television. Ask this question, would someone let their own child watch some of the programming that they watch, too? Some of these programs are intended for the adult generation, not young children. Violence has a major role in television these days. Letting children watch this violence could corrupt their minds and eventually lead to bad behavior. There needs to be a limitation on the types of television programming that parents let their children watch, because violence in television can negatively affect children.