As one of the most favorite pastimes of the majority, televisions have been ubiquitous in this digital age. It has brought a significant impact on the society in various aspects starting with the lives of each individual. Surveys also reveal that the average person in the Western world spends 5-10 hours a day watching television. The aggrandizing excessive use of these televisions- however- has contributed to the negative scale, outweighing the positive aspects of these televisions.
As one of the major contributor of information, the television has been one of the most influential means of communication. It is where the majority of the society acquire information about the status quo and keep in touch with the current trends in the world. In addition to that, watching the television has been prevalently used for entertainment. It has been effective in entertaining its viewers as well as provide a sight to the outside world.
Behind these positive aspects, emerge the negative ones that has caused an immense influence in the society. The excessive use of televisions has resulted to a long period of inactivity that increased the possibility of health risks and other health problems. It promotes ineffectiveness and laziness in the workplace as most people tend to get distracted and watch the television in lieu of finishing the tasks first. This not only affects the individual, but also the society as a whole as each individual's labor contributes to the efficiency of the whole society. In addition to that, the information from these televisions are in a way inaccurate as they only show a small glimpse of what is really going on. The gist of the status quo is mostly seen, but not really the whole story as it make it less 'interesting'. People tend to get less interested to these current affairs and prefer other modes of entertainment. The majority gets a distorted view of reality as they continue to readily accept what these television feeds them without even casting a single doubt. This affects the whole society through the ignorance of the whole story in status quo that could cause misinterpretations and misguided decisions.
Moreover, the increase in violence has been linked to televisions. The American Psychological Association has concluded that "when children watch violence on TV they are less aware of the suffering of others, more fearful of the word they live in and more likely to harm the people around them. Children tend to replicate what they see and if they are frequently watching a person hit others, they may act this out in real life." This could increase the crime rate of the society and decrease their sense of security.
Another factor that should be considered is how the individual is too distracted in watching the television that it actually becomes a substitute for 'living'. In lieu of going outside and actively fulfilling his/her dreams, the individual encloses himself within four walls and just continue to watch these dreams being fulfilled through the television. This has become a common lifestyle for most individuals that it somehow increases the depression rate in the society as they continue to lose the true meaning of life.
The increasing negative effects of these televisions- proportional to their excessive use- has been very alarming that it is advised for the majority to have a paradigm shift before it's too late. It is important to prevent dependency on televisions as well as allowing them to completely become substitutes for 'living'. As the saying goes, "live passionately, not passively."
-Vladolf the cool_ID2
References:
Gleason, K. (2015). Pros & Cons of TV | eHow. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/facts_5121157_pros-cons-tv.html
The Harmful Effects of Watching Television | The Unbounded Spirit. (2014). Retrieved from http://theunboundedspirit.com/the-harmful-effects-of-watching-television/
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