Media vs. Reading

Media is part of our everyday life. There is no way to avoid not using or seeing it. The internet is such a convenient way of communicating with people or even for educational purposes. Taking classes online is very convenient for working parents who are unable to attend a campus college or high school students who want to get ahead in their education. Though not the entire internet is "G-rated", we have to be careful what we put in our minds as well. This also applies to books, television, and other various forms of electronics. God created our minds so that we have control of what we put in it. Whatever you put in, that's what comes out in the end. Reading is a good way to stimulate your brain. There are so many good books out there! Reading can let you go off into Italy or Greece without ever leaving the comforts of home. The author’s description of something can be so vivid, it’s like you were actually tasting the rich, creamy gelato. Television is another way we can earn our education. Most every teenager watches television. Whether it’s a crime drama or just a comedy, the one thing these all have in common is that they are meant to entertain. It’s good to watch an occasional television show, but not hours at a time. Most teenagers are spending so much time watching TV; they lose sight of what’s really important in life. You just need to find the right balance for both TV and reading!

Reply: Hi Rachel! I have to agree with you 100%. TV is a very useful tool, especially if it’s for tracking a potential storm or keeping up with politics. But if you watch it every minute of every day, then it can become very addicting and wrong. Same thing applies to books as well. It’s good to read, but you shouldn’t absorb all of your time to reading. God did create us to think, and because of this ability, we should be think and know what it right from wrong. I believe the only reason she made it seem like reading was more holy than watching TV is because with reading, you can read the Bible. But with watching TV, you can watch a sermon or listen to a Christian radio station. With reading, you do gain intellectual knowledge like vocabulary, grammatical sentence structure, and different styles of writing. I agree with that to an extent, but there are certain things on TV, that are easier to learn than reading it. For example, it’s easier for someone to learn how to cook or build a garden shed by watching someone do it first hand, than reading about someone do it. There are many books that are just as pointless reading than watching it on TV. I’ve never been a huge fan of the Twilight series, so it’s kind of pointless for me to read it or watch the movies. With all of this said, we need to balance out our times between the two. As long as were not excessive in either, then there’s no problem with either.