The Golden Age of Television

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“The Golden Age of Television” brought many changes to America (Bhattacharyya). Modern America is not like America was in the 1940s and early 1950s, and one reason is because of television. Musical shows, children’s shows, movies, news, and so much more are on TV. Television doesn’t only entertain us, but it helps us in so many ways. We can learn from TV. Different educational channels are created to help us learn (Cochrane). TV is a way for us to get information, too, just like books and the Internet. Lastly, television can also affect people and their lives. Before TV, there was more interaction between people (www.printmoment.com). Today, there is not as much interaction and communication between people. As you can see, television helped shape modern America by helping people learn, affecting people’s lives, and brining new ways to broadcast information to Americans.

Television is one of many ways we can get information. Another way is through computers (www.inventors.about.com). Not just computers, however, but inventions such as email and the Internet that were made for the computer. The Internet gives us access to a lot. All we need to do is type a search into the search bar, and within seconds we can get tons of information. And email lets us communicate with people and share information when we used to have to either call or send a letter. Email let us communicate with family, friends, and other people, and also share information faster than letter writing (www.inventors.about.com). Internet helps us by giving us tons of results when we do a search (www.inventors.about.com). There is information on everything on the Internet. Another computer-based invention is the laptop (www.inventors.about.com). Laptops help us because we can use the inventions of email and the Internet and also take it almost anywhere.

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Another way to get information is through print. The first alphabet, developed by the Phoenicians, was one of the first ways of communication, besides speech (www.inventors.about.com). Books are another way that we learn through print (www.inventors.about.com). Books can give us information on almost everything. There is so much that people can learn from books. The first encyclopedia had lots of information for people to learn about (www.inventors.about.com). The first library, started by the Greeks, was a way for the books to be stored and for people to be able to have access to all those books (www.inventors.about.com). The printing press, invented by Johannes Gutenberg, was a way for books to be printed and not hand-written (www.inventors.about.com). Finally, there are typewriters, which were very common because computers had not yet been invented when they were around. A paper could easily be typed on a typewriter.

A third way that many people get there information from is electronics. Electronics such as radio and cell phones help us by letting us get information. Radio is one electronic that helps us. The radio has been in America for a long time. Before television was invented, almost every American had a radio, and that was how they got their news. With radio, we can get information about our world. (www.inventors.about.com). One way we get information through radio is on news radio shows. Radio also gives us entertainment through music. Cell phones help us because we can keep in touch with people (www.inventors.about.com). We can talk to people and share information and also take our cell phones most anywhere.

Lastly, another way to share info is through transportation. This means that it needs to travel across a distance to get to the receiver. One way to share information by transportation is through letter writing (www.creativedisplaysnow.com). People still write letters to people today. The first postal
Martin 3 service, started by the Chinese for their military, was how letters were sent (www.inventors.about.com). Another way that information was shared was through the Pony Express. The Pony Express started in America in 1860 (www.inventors.about.com). Letters were sent from one location to the other by pony and rider. The person would ride the pony from one end of the country to the other, or wherever the letter had to be sent. The Pony Express ended in 1891. Finally, telegraphs were efficient ways to communicate from one location to another (www.nearfieldcommunication.org). Telegraphs were a sort of Morse Code, which was a series of clicks that would spell out letters and symbols. This method worked for awhile.

Many people can be affected by TV. When kids watch too much TV, there are many ways they can be affected. One way is obesity (www.med.umich.edu). Kids can become obese by watching TV when they constantly watch television and don’t get exercise. Obesity also can come from eating too much unhealthy junk food while watching television. That’s also how TV can be a replacement for physical activity (www.med.umich.edu). Instead of playing with friends and going outside to run around and play, children watch television. Another thing that television can affect is bad grades (www.med.umcih.edu). Instead of doing homework or studying, many kids watch television. Finally, people tend to replace communication with family and friends with television. Many people today would rather watch television then spend time with friends and family (www.printmoment.com). Even though TV can have a positive effect on people in some ways, there were many ways that television didn’t have a good effect on us.
Families in general can be affected, too. For example, some families can sit for hours watching TV without speaking to one another (Anderson). It remains a debate, though, on whether TV is a good thing or a bad thing. TV can be good, because it can teach us things and share information with us. Martin 4
It can also be bad, because for many people it breaks apart their interactions with people. Some say that families interacted with each other more before television was invented. More time was spent with family and friends. Others disagree, and they say that TV is the only time families can spend together (Anderson). It can also be the only time that families will spend together. There are many families today that are very busy and don’t have much extra time. Television time is time that families get to spend together.

We can also learn a lot from watching television. Different shows have been made so that we can learn from them. For example, we can learn a lot from educational channels (Cochrane). Some educational shows are documentaries. Documentaries teach us about important people or events (Cochrane). Documentaries can be about any important event from The Civil War to The Great Depression. Americans became like eye witnesses to historical events. We can also learn from the news (Cochrane). The news can tell us about important current events and upcoming events. The news can also tell us about the weather, and about local and world news. By watching TV, we can learn some words and phrases from different languages (Cochrane). We can also learn about different cultures through television. Some channels, such as documentaries, teach us about past and present events (Cochrane).

Visual learners also can learn from watching TV. A visual learner is someone who learns best by pictures and images. They collect information through their eyes, which means that they learn best by seeing something (Hutton). Pictures, graphics, charts, and images help visual learners by providing an image to help the visual learners learn (Hutton). About 65% of the American population are visual learners (Riklan). Other types of learners are auditory learners and kinesthetic Martin 5 learners (Riklan). Auditory learners learn best by hearing. They tend to remember things by hearing them. Kinesthetic learners do better by interaction, and by touch and movement. About 30% of Americans are auditory learners, and 5% are kinesthetic (Riklan). Visual learners can get much more from television, though. Television can also help visual learners relax (Riklan).
As you can see, TV was a great invention. It has helped so many people. Through television, we can learn, get information, and TV also changes our interactions with other people. While some of these changes may be good, many were not very good. Television has changed our interactions with family and friends because many people would rather watch TV. They also watch television without talking to anyone and rarely taking their eyes off the screen. TV is good in many ways as well. Television helps us learn. Different channels and shows teach us about different things (Cochrane). The news shares information about local and world news, local events, and the weather (Cochrane). We can learn a lot from that. Also, we can learn some new words from different languages (Cochrane). TV is also a way to broadcast info. Before, it was mainly through radio and communication that people got there information. It was better than radio in many ways; we could actually see it as it was being told. Even though radio will always be with us, television will be a favorite invention, too. Again, television was a great invention, and it will be used for years to come.