Television viewing #2

More than ninety per cent of households in developed countries own at least one television set (Sharif 1999). This confirms that the children can gain easy access to television. This draws utter attention of many psychologists and parents as extensive television viewing is detrimental to children. Argument has been further escalated by American Time Use Survey (2003) as individuals spend an average of two to three hours a day in watching television. I strongly stand with the notions claiming that television viewing brings more harm than good. Children are ignorant to the negative implications caused by extensive television viewing of which can affect development of the thinking process, aggravate academic performance and trigger health problems.

Firstly, extensive viewing of unsuitable programs can deteriorate children’s thinking process. Since children are still naïve about the world, they are likely to be mislead by the ideas and beliefs portrayed by the programs they watch. They become easily frustrated when they encounter unprecedented reality in real life. Research has further justified that those children who watch violent programs eventually become desensitized to violence (Sharif 1999). They will think that violence is a part of life and a natural way of solving problem. Children may also be stereotyped by the superficial movies which narrow down the characteristic of life to sexy, tough, good and bad (Sharif 1999).

Secondly, extensive television viewing worsens the children’s academic performance. As television programs are designed to demand undivided attention, children will be difficult to focus on things like homework, causing a lapse in school work. Study has been done, and it concludes that heavy viewers are among the lowest achievers at school (Leigh 2001). Besides, Flicking between channels searching for something of interest, children indirectly procrastinate the period scheduled for homework. This would lead to further more severe problems such as a dip in academic capability and a decrease in athleticism.

Thirdly, extensive television viewing triggers various health problems. This can be explained when families have their meals in front of the television (Rutherford 2002). The improper dining manners can dampen the digestion process and further affect our health. In addition, it cannot be denied that television can be detrimental if it is watched constantly in prolonged periods to the exclusion of other activities. Children are not being physically active as they waste hours in front of the television viewing the programs they ‘must’ see. The adverse effects on health can be worse when this sedentary activity is indulged in with snacks, causing obesity and related diseases such as diabetes and heart diseases (Rutherford 2002).

In a nutshell, I fully agree that excessive television viewing will definitely bring more harm such as affect the development of thinking process, worsen academic performance and trigger health problem. According to UK Time Use Survey (2000), not only children who are addicted to television viewing, but also full-time workers as they spend most of their free time on TV, video and radio. The crux of the problem is the self-control and self-moderation that withhold us from over viewing television. It takes very little effort to press the button and turn the television off, and what we have to do is to keep up our mind rational and press it.