For many Americans TV is essential for life. Like water it is something that is needed to go throughout the day. But, what is the effect that this is having on one’s mind, body, and family? Is the joy of the television for those 5 hours’ worth it? TV has many effects that do not benefit American culture; this includes bad health, not being productive, the thought processes one has.
Watching TV is bad for one’s health. So many Americans have been turned into couch potatoes. Figure one is what so many Americans turn into every evening, all day on the weekends. Who can blame them? TV is something that draws one in whether one likes it or not. Even if people try not to watch TV; when it is on in the room, even if it is just audible, then …show more content…
There are so many productive actions that one could be doing instead of sitting on the couch watching the latest episode of “Big Band Theory.” One of these productive activities is reading a book. When one reads it make one think (Ganapathy, 2007). “Reading is a complex activity; TV is a no-brainer. Reading requires you to translate a series of odd-looking little shapes into words and pictures which, strung to-gether, produce a story or an idea. Reading is an act of creation; TV is an act of consumption” (Hill, 1995). Reading also extends ones vocabulary. Even if the book is a work of fiction the word bank of the reader is being expanded on. The only thing that gets expanded on when the TV is on is the funny line that “SpongeBob” just said. People sound smarter and know more when they read. Ben Carson, a successful brain surgeon, tells about his childhood in his book Think Big. Carson’s mom forced him and his brother to read two books a week instead on watching TV. Because of the drastic change in his life he began to learn and a once dumb kid was now the smartest in the class. He recognized that he knew the knowledge that he know because he had decided to read. Another activity that one could do instead of tuning in on Saturday morning is being outside. Whether one is a kid or an adult the outdoors is a refreshing place of discovery and good health. Some of the best memories that people have are playing outside as a child. These are memories that are scarce today because of the TV take over. 56% of adolescents are watching more than 5 hours of television in 2013 (Need Citation). These kids are missing out on the outdoors. For a child being outside opens the imagination and gives a great source of exercise. When TV is often watched imagination is limited, when TV is not present one is more so at the liberty to have personal
Watching TV is bad for one’s health. So many Americans have been turned into couch potatoes. Figure one is what so many Americans turn into every evening, all day on the weekends. Who can blame them? TV is something that draws one in whether one likes it or not. Even if people try not to watch TV; when it is on in the room, even if it is just audible, then …show more content…
There are so many productive actions that one could be doing instead of sitting on the couch watching the latest episode of “Big Band Theory.” One of these productive activities is reading a book. When one reads it make one think (Ganapathy, 2007). “Reading is a complex activity; TV is a no-brainer. Reading requires you to translate a series of odd-looking little shapes into words and pictures which, strung to-gether, produce a story or an idea. Reading is an act of creation; TV is an act of consumption” (Hill, 1995). Reading also extends ones vocabulary. Even if the book is a work of fiction the word bank of the reader is being expanded on. The only thing that gets expanded on when the TV is on is the funny line that “SpongeBob” just said. People sound smarter and know more when they read. Ben Carson, a successful brain surgeon, tells about his childhood in his book Think Big. Carson’s mom forced him and his brother to read two books a week instead on watching TV. Because of the drastic change in his life he began to learn and a once dumb kid was now the smartest in the class. He recognized that he knew the knowledge that he know because he had decided to read. Another activity that one could do instead of tuning in on Saturday morning is being outside. Whether one is a kid or an adult the outdoors is a refreshing place of discovery and good health. Some of the best memories that people have are playing outside as a child. These are memories that are scarce today because of the TV take over. 56% of adolescents are watching more than 5 hours of television in 2013 (Need Citation). These kids are missing out on the outdoors. For a child being outside opens the imagination and gives a great source of exercise. When TV is often watched imagination is limited, when TV is not present one is more so at the liberty to have personal