What’s on Television... ?

Although it is called ‘idiot box’, television has become part of our life in today’s world. You might say that discussion on the need of TV as a device in daily life has been a regular topic. Just ask yourself how much are you concerned about the kind of cartoons or other entertainment programmes which your children or siblings watch?
Perhaps they watch such kind of stuff every day or every hour
in a day with no proper observation from you as a parent, a brother or a sister or an adult!
Possibly to give it a try, just spend few minutes and watch some cartoons with your kids or younger siblings. Try to comprehend what you watch and analyse the messages, lessons or morals behind any of these programmes or cartoon series.
Television, indeed, has changed our lives, attitudes and thoughts in many ways. A large number of people now spend more time watching television than doing any other useful things in their life like reading or exercising for instance.
Researches in the US have estimated that when most students leave the school they would have spent 11,000 hours in the classroom and 22,000 hours before television sets. According to A C Nielsen Co, an average American watches TV more than four hours a day, which equals 28 hours a week or two months of non-stop TV-watching a year. Another study states that children aged 6-11 spend nearly two-and-a-half hours a week playing video games on TV.
Nowadays, television has become an essential household item and has taken the place of physical activities not only for children, but teenagers and some adults too. As a matter of fact, television is a sword with two edges — both positive and negative. It’s for us to decide how useful and harmful it is to our life. It’s like all other electronic and smart devices that we are using today such as iPads, mobile phones and electronic games!
Television has its good side as it can be entertaining and educative. It can open up new windows to the world for kids by giving them a chance to learn about different cultures and gain exposure to ideas. Kids might learn some of those insights which they might have never encounter in their own society.
For millions of people around the world, television is regarded the source of companionship for it helps them get updated with the everyday life happenings.
Moreover, television makes people aware of their global responsibilities and share mutual cooperation and understanding with others from different nations around the world.
In 1985, around 1.5 billion people in 147 countries watched a TV pop concert and helped collect more than $100 million for the people in Africa. In contrast, some people believe that today watching television often means fighting, violence and foul language; it just depends on who gets to hold the remote control at home.
Children have become definitely unaware of the fun of childhood games, such as flying kites, making castles out of sand and playing in fields with friends. They also lack the innocence revealed in being stubborn and naughty.
Furthermore, studies have shown that kids are more afraid of violence in news coverage than in any other media content. Fear based on real news events increases as children get older.
Thus, parents should pay close attention to what their children see… not just cartoons, but news as well.
Parents should make the facility available to their children with caution. How much impact TV has on children depends on many factors such as how much they watch, their
age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults and whether their parents talk with them about what they see on TV.
Television watching should be a fun and relaxing activity for kids and adults alike, but if it is too often, it will lead to a family conflict.