Television and the Effects on Its Viewers
English 121
24 Novemeber 2009
Television and the Effects on its Viewers Television is a big part of everyone’s life, it’s the largest format for sharing information and has the largest audience compared to the internet, radio and newspaper. Television can shape the way we learn for the better or worse. It’s no secret that too much of anything is bad for us and the same can be said about the television. The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. The APA recommends, kids younger than two are recommended to not watch television, kids older then two are recommended to only watch two hours (How TV). As kids get older, too much screen time can interfere with activities such as being physically active, reading, doing homework, playing with friends, and spending time with family (How TV). Children are not the only ones affected from television adults can also be affected. While children are becoming lazier and less academic with television viewing most adults are becoming aggressive with violent television viewing. Television is said to be addictive to most people and has been proven to be by many. The average American will spend about 3 hours per day watching television whish adds up to 15 hours a week (Ron). Geoffrey Beattie is a psychology professor; his main theory on television viewing is that we process audio and visual stimuli better than either text or images alone. Beattie’s proposed that the human brains are genetically predisposed to enjoy watching television. But why is television so addicting? Television has such a mighty grasp on our eye balls due to the fact that we don’t have the ability to react to the transmitted programming. Images from the glowing, pulsing TV screen are simulating, however the nature of the medium does not permit the body to respond appropriately (Ron). Ours bodies want to react to the images on the screen, but cannot. The TV watchers are visually and auditory simulated while
24 Novemeber 2009
Television and the Effects on its Viewers Television is a big part of everyone’s life, it’s the largest format for sharing information and has the largest audience compared to the internet, radio and newspaper. Television can shape the way we learn for the better or worse. It’s no secret that too much of anything is bad for us and the same can be said about the television. The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. The APA recommends, kids younger than two are recommended to not watch television, kids older then two are recommended to only watch two hours (How TV). As kids get older, too much screen time can interfere with activities such as being physically active, reading, doing homework, playing with friends, and spending time with family (How TV). Children are not the only ones affected from television adults can also be affected. While children are becoming lazier and less academic with television viewing most adults are becoming aggressive with violent television viewing. Television is said to be addictive to most people and has been proven to be by many. The average American will spend about 3 hours per day watching television whish adds up to 15 hours a week (Ron). Geoffrey Beattie is a psychology professor; his main theory on television viewing is that we process audio and visual stimuli better than either text or images alone. Beattie’s proposed that the human brains are genetically predisposed to enjoy watching television. But why is television so addicting? Television has such a mighty grasp on our eye balls due to the fact that we don’t have the ability to react to the transmitted programming. Images from the glowing, pulsing TV screen are simulating, however the nature of the medium does not permit the body to respond appropriately (Ron). Ours bodies want to react to the images on the screen, but cannot. The TV watchers are visually and auditory simulated while