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Television as a teaching aid
Television Impact on American Society
Television impact on american culture 3
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In Barbara Ehrenreich’s “The Worst Years of Our Lives,” Ehrenreich denounces the American population’s obsession with television and the resulting decline of activity in the 1950s. Although Ehrenreich is correct that the popularity of television causes the American public to spend more hours in front of the television, what she fails to mention is that television goes beyond cheesy sitcoms and spicy dramas, and serves a greater purpose in society by educating the public and exposing them to new experiences. Television does not turn the American public into “couch potatoes” or “root vegetables,” but rather educates and inspires the public. The newspaper has been a reliable, yet flawed source of current events throughout all of American history. A newspaper can only inform a person of events that occurred a day previous to its publication, whereas news stations can provide up-to-the-minute information due to multiple broadcasts throughout the day, and can even interrupt other programs for breaking news in order to keep the public informed. The popularity in television causes a viewer to be up to speed in recent events and socially aware, instead of relying on …show more content…
The panoply of programs a television provides allows a viewer to search for new interests and inspires them to do new things. I, for one, can attest to this, as my knowledge of baseball was limited as a child, until one day I decided to watch a broadcast of the San Francisco Giants; now I am a baseball superfan with friends from all over the country who share in this interest, and also a softball player who exercises every day. I did not become a couch potato from my experiences with television, but rather, a happier, healthier
As this suburban sprawl of the fifties took America by storm, Spiegel discusses how television provided a necessary means of escapism for frustrated families. The first television show, broadcast in 1949, was a very simple program in which a man and woman sit watching and discussing the TV. Although by today's standards this would be seen as unsurpassingly boring to audiences, this simple show provided a stress relief and easy entertainment; it seemed as though audiences enjoyed watching programs which, similar to their own situation, seemed more rewarding.
Jeffrey D. Sachs’s essay “ A Nation of Vidiot” focuses on his views about the American relationship with televisions. In his essay explaining why people should avoid watching TV too much. And the author also gives readers a reason to believe in the articles that he wrote. He explained the problem to television advertising used to sell the product and the country's politics. There are fine examples why developing countries the consequences that have ever television were created. And he has to convince his readers when he criticized some of the problems seen too much television can cause people watch television as reduced memory, and body weakness. However, for the children, the TV screens the main tool of the children. The authors also offer TV how difficult and dangerous for television viewers. Overall it’s a pretty interesting read, but one thing is sure: the essay is a
In his novel, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman describes to the reader, in detail, the immediate and future dangers of television. The argument starts out in a logical manner, explaining first the differences between today's media-driven society, and yesterday's "typographic America". Postman goes on to discuss in the second half of his book the effects of today's media, politics on television, religion on television, and finally televised educational programs. He explains that the media consists of "fragments of news" (Postman, 1985, p.97), and politics are merely a fashion show. Although Postman's arguments regarding the brevity of the American attention span and the importance of today's mass media are logical, I do not agree with his opinion of television's inability to educate.
The many evils that exist within television’s culture were not foreseen back when televisions were first put onto the market. Yet, Postman discovers this very unforgiveable that the world did not prepare itself to deal with the ways that television inherently changes our ways of communication. For example, people who lived during the year 1905, could not really predict that the invention of a car would not make it seem like only a luxurious invention, but also that the invention of the car would strongly affect the way we make decisions.
...plications, the public is able to share and obtain information before the morning newspaper is delivered. In addition, the media today continues to dramatize public events. Cases such as the Zimmerman Trial or foreign incidents in Ukraine remain headlines on news articles for months. Each source presents bias and influences its audience differently.
In Sach’s essay “A Nation of Vidiots,” he explains how he believes that the use of television that we intake can contribute to making
Presently 98% of the households in the United States have one or more televisions in them. What once was regarded as a luxury item has become a staple appliance of the American household. Gone are the days of the three channel black and white programming of the early years; that has been replaced by digital flat screen televisions connected to satellite programming capable of receiving thousands of channels from around the world. Although televisions and television programming today differ from those of the telescreens in Orwell’s 1984, we are beginning to realize that the effects of television viewing may be the same as those of the telescreens.
By watching television you are able to obtain ample amounts of valuable and beneficial information. You are able to watch the news as well as the weather to get local and global updates, there is the world news like CNN which provides you with up to the minute information on what is happening around the world and important information about what is going on in Iraq with our troops and In Haiti with their earth quakes. There are stock market channels that are available for people who hold stocks, there are multiple health and cooking network channels that teach you easy fitness steps and healthy cooking techniques as well as home improvement channels that can help you to become a handy man to help you build and fix things around your house. The history and discovery channels are two very beneficial channels to me, there will always be something on these channels that you will be able to learn from.
Many individuals consider alcohol and drug addiction harmful, but television addiction is a completely different matter. In her article "TV Addiction," Marie Winn contends that TV is a destructive dependence since individuals stay stuck to the TV and don 't associate with others. Winn "TV Addiction" clarifies the meaning of addiction. She gives cases of addictions like drug and liquor. She likewise discusses why addictions are terrible. She additionally discusses how and why TV is a habit. For instance, Winn says, “television experience allows the participant to blot out the real world and enter into a pleasurable and passive mental state”(608). Often TV addicts feel that they ought to accomplish something else as opposed to observing TV, but most of the time they don’t. Winn is correct; as TV addiction promotes unproductive behavior that affects the mental and physical state of an individual and
Can you imagine the actual number of people who watch T.V.? People spend more time before the television, than any other thing. Nowadays, even children, to be more specific, toddlers spend most of their time watching T.V. Shouldn?t they be playing with their toys inside or outside, playing in the yard, going to the park for a walk or to play on the swings and slides? Don?t you remember when you were young when your parents took you to the park? All kids went to the park, but nowadays, the park has been substituted with the television and video games (for youth). Maybe this is also a reason why many of our children are obese. Because the television producers have created television show for preschoolers, school-age children, teenagers, and adults, many choose to spend their time viewing these shows because they feel a sense of belonging when watching the shows.
Television watchers have a tendency to be more extroversive. They are better verbal communicators, and they know how to present themselves to others. If you were to give a speech, the best way to prepare yourself would be to watch others, and take notes. Additionally, T.V. watchers can build vocabulary through listening to context on the television. When one watches T.V., they can share their experiences with most of America, since most Americans prefer television to reading. Thus, T.V. watchers will get along better with others. Lastly, T.V. sitcoms introduce all kinds of problems and solutions which can be adapted into real life situations.
When television first came on the market about fifty years ago, families had one television at the most in the household, and most families only used the television for the news or for an occasional show or two. Today, it is a rarity if you find only one television in a household. Most families have numerous televisions in their house and use it more and more for entertainment purposes. People of all ages are addicted to television. On average, people watch about thirty hours of television a week. But the people who go beyond this mark are known to society as “couch potatoes';.
Television brings the world in your living-rooms. We see people in our country and in other lands, and learn their customs, occupations, and problems. TV gives us opportunities to see the best actors and performances, to hear the latest news, to listen to political discussions. To crown it all, TV simply helps us to relax after a hard day's work, giving a great variety of entertaining and musical programs.
In the beginning television was a luxury. Many use to think watching television was something to prepare for. Watching television was more like an event. People who had television in their home invited others over to enjoy the television with them. They also wanted to show off that they could afford a television set. Back in the day television was a place for a family to spend time together and bond around the television set and dinner, work, and school. Television as a whole: sparks socialization, influences how we cook and eat, shapes and mirrors our values, can make us more violent, increasing obesity, have an effect on a marriage and family, destroy a body image, increases acceptance of the Gay community, and may increase or decline quality time depending on the situation.