During the 20th century, the literacy rate in America has begun to fall at an alarming rate. A factor contributing to the problems in the literacy rate includes children’s exposure to television which has resulted in a shortened attention span during other activities. Today, children are less active because of technology such as television and video gaming and, as a result more children are suffering from obesity.
Television has been in American Society since 1920’s and has gradually been spreading around the world. Television is like a drug in American Society, it is addictive to all ages including children. It has the most effect on children that are young and do not know anything about television. As children grow older they focus more in watching shows and playing video games for many hours.“Kids and teens 8 to 18 years spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen and almost 2 additional hours on the computer (outside of schoolwork) and playing video games.” (How) This is bad for children because if they spend almost 6 hours just in mass media. Then the question of how much time will they spend in doing task that might benefit their body and their physical aspect of life.
Over the course of time television has changed very abruptly and will keep changing throughout history. Before television was invented the children in american society would interact with each other through physical activities. Now children spend more time watching television, video games, and computers then engaging in sports that may keep them healthy. “A 2005 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that children ages 8 to 18 spend more time in front of computer, television, and game screens than any other activity in their lives except sleep...
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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.
Television has become a big part in children’s day-to-day lives especially in the 20th century. Children in this century rely on television to keep them entertained and educated instead of entertaining and educating themselves by participating in activities, which will teach them a lot more in life then the actual television. There is no doubt that children are most easily influenced by television because of the different content that they watch as well as the amount of time consumed watching TV. The television does have an emotional and intellectual development on children but this all depends on the content that they’re watching and the way that they absorb the information that the show is trying to send out. Different programs will portray
Throughout the years, television has altered the lives of many American families in a number of ways. When television was first invented, it brought entertainment and togetherness into the homes of many Americans. However, during the course of years, television has caused turmoil in many American homes. Television has led to families being disconnected from one another and has caused a lack in family unity and tradition. It is crucial to ensure that a family maintains their togetherness and interaction with one another. However, many American families are so consumed into the depths of the unparallel force of the television universe that they have become unconscious and blind sighted by the harmful effects that television has caused them.
Television is something that is easily accessible for any child. I can agree with Postman when he stated that the transformation of childhood was when literacy disappeared, education disappeared, shame disappeared and essentially childhood disappeared. Though, he predicted all of this in the 90’s, I see it happening every day. The culture of our current generation of children has completely changed from when I was a child and the young are more tech-savvy than generations before (Postman, 1994).
Did you know that more than 70 percent of children ages 8-18 have a T.V. in their bedroom? Children ages 5-16 spend an average of six and a half hours in front of a screen every day while in 1995; children only spent an average of three hours watching T.V. It has become so popular because of new technology and increase in T.V. production. According to geek.com, 3 Samsung T.V. are being sold every three seconds! But children should not watch more than 6 hours of T.V. a day because it has many negative effects, like poor eyesight and dizziness, negative attitudes, and weight gain, especially in children.
Television is everywhere these days, not just in our living rooms but in bathrooms, kitchens, doctor's offices, grocery stores, airplanes, and classrooms. We have access to TV virtually anywhere and as American's we are taking advantaged of it. Adults aren't the only ones watching TV; children today are watching more TV than ever before. TV has even become known as "America's baby-sitter." (Krieg). Meaning that parents are now using the television as a way of entertaining their children while they attempt to accomplish other things such as cooking and cleaning.
TV is a medium of socialization that delivering impersonal communication to audience. Nowadays, many children encounter into the world of TV very early. They spent quite a lot of time on TV per day and the average viewing is increasing every year, especially children who age from4 to 9-year-old. It shows that TV being part of the activity in their life. Children spent an average of between 3 and 4 hours per day viewing television. (2) “ A study found that 32% of 2 to 7-year-olds and 65% of 8 to 18-year-olds have television sets in their bedrooms. “(3) According to the chart and ...
There are many facts that show how children are affected by television. The most obvious is the effects that television has on the brain. 'Television interferes with the development of intelligence, thinking skill and imagination.';(LimiTv) A huge element of thinking is taking from what you already know and deciding how it applies in different situation. School makes you do this, but television does not. Michael and Sheila Cole, sociologist, say that 'Children socialized to learn from television had lower than normal expectations about the amount of mental effort required to learn from written texts, and tended to read less and perform relatively poorly in school.';(Development of Children 24) Which means that it takes very little effort to follow a television show and kids are raised on television believe that it takes less effort to learn from television rather than books because they have been 'spoon-fed'; information by television. 'Opportunities for a child's imagination to develop are also denied by habitual viewing.'; (Neural Activity and the Growth of the Brain) Children need some unstructured time to allow imagination skills to form by thinking about a book or story, a conversation, or an event.
In the argumentative essay “T.V. Addiction” by Marie Winn, Winn relates watching television to having an addiction with drugs and alcohol. The television experience allows us to escape from the real world and enter into a pleasurable and peaceful mental state. When it comes to television, Marie asks the following question: Is there a kind of television viewing that falls into the more serious category of destruction addiction? I believe there is. Why do so many people, instead of doing what they’re supposed to be doing, put everything on hold and just focus on television? I think this is because they want an escape from their problems.
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.
In today’s society there are plenty of people who think that television is positive effects and influences on our American culture. It provides useful information about what is going on in the world and also give us numerous forms of education and entertainment. How does television effect our youth today? Television is becoming more and more significant in children lives. How can we determine what are children are taking away from television isn’t good thing?
Television has evolved into a significant accessory of American households. At first, television seemed like a “social breakthrough;” however it has claimed control over several aspects of daily life. The most detrimental consequences from watching television are found in adolescents. Children are susceptible to various levels of influence; therefore society should prioritize the type of behavior modeled for them. Television has the ability to “traumatize children.” (Boyse) The impact television has over society hinders the ability for many to recognize the dangers that come from it. Negative outcomes from too much screen time at a young age include: obesity, irregular sleep patterns, behavioral problems, even impair academic performance (Mayo). Due to the conclusions drawn from research and observational studies, one is able to support the claim that young children watching television obtains far more downfalls such as health problems, behavior abnormalities, and unfit lifestyles than benefits such as convenience.
In United States, “Children watch 4 hours of television every day, 28 hours a week and, sometimes, 10 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Before their 18th birthday, children may view 25,000 hours of television” (Ni Chang 85). Nowadays, technology has been developed and used in many different ways. Many children spend large amount of time on IPad, smart phone, and computer. Clearly, television has played an important role in most of the younger age group’s life. As a parent, one of the biggest concerns about the influence that television has on the children is that they tend to become aggressive while they watch a lot of violent program. Communicating and engaging with one and other is limited because television has destroyed communication among family and removed children from the social interaction. Moreover, watching a lot of TV also contributes child obesity. Overall, television is harmful for children in their early development because it is not only going to delay their brain development, but also increase their aggressive behavior, and cause child obesity in a long term period.
...nteraction later in life. If you add the Internet to the equation then there is a recipe for never leaving ones house. The final harmful effect of too much television is what the viewer expects out of life. In television, the main values portrayed are money and love. The person without money stumbles upon a way to get money, and the lonely person finds love. Or in sit come, the world is turned upside down, but the people manage to solve all of their problems and everything is back to "normal" with in a half hour. This is not even close to how life really is, yet it is the impression blared acrossed the airwaves twenty-four hours a day. This leaves people unprepared to deal with a real problem and more willing to delve back into the world of fantasy, where things make sense to them.