Topic.8

[partrita]

The Harmful Effects of Watching Too Much Television


This article is more geared toward those who spend an abnormal amount
of time in front of the tube on a daily basis. You know exactly who
you are.

I know there are countless studies on how television is bad for you,
but here are some of the harmful effects that I see that most studies
don’t cover when it comes to watching too much TV.


A Safe Escape

The biggest trap of watching too much TV is that it becomes a safe way
to escape your own life instead of looking at it square in the eye. If
you find yourself watching hours of television everyday, it might be
good to think about whether or not it’s a subtle indication to
yourself that your life is not what you want it to be, that it’s not
interesting enough so you feel the need to immerse yourself in the
lives of others.

People who gossip have the same problem. Their lives aren’t
interesting enough so they feel the need to know everybody else’s
business and spread the word to whoever will listen. The person who
watches television for hours on end is no different. They end up so
wrapped up in the lives of others that it becomes their entire life.

People literally “sleep through life” by watching hours of television
a day. It’s a tragedy that they cannot see the time they spend there
can be used to better their own life, so they don’t have to feel the
need to escape it.



Mind Deterioration.

When you watch TV, you’ll find that it does all the work FOR you. You
don’t need to “create” in your mind like you do when reading. When you
read, your brain has to use its imagination to come up with the
smells, the tastes, the sounds, the pictures, and the feelings
described in the book or article but when you watch TV, all of that is
already done for you (at least the hearing and seeing part). If you
ever wonder why your brain feels so “empty” after watching television,
that’s exactly why. Your brain shuts off because it has no job to do.
Use it or lose it indeed.

Along the lines of that, have you ever tried to do get things done
after watching TV? It’s as if you’ve become “mind paralyzed” and you
have to wait for your brain to slowly get back in gear. I call that
time period the “dead zone” and even after that, you’re still not
working at peak efficiency.



An Easy Addiction

This is the worst part of watching too much television. TV can be just
as addictive as any illegal substance on the market today. It’s easily
accessible, pleasurable, and makes you forget your troubles for the
day. Sound familiar?

You watch one show and when it ends, the TV says “Coming up next…stay
tuned for blah blah blah”, so you become curious, you watch it and you
like it and BOOM, you add another rotation to your weekly TV schedule.
Those hours add up and once you get vested in the shows, they’ve got
you for life.

Watching television for hours on end is the easy way out and many
people choose to take it. Why? Because watching television for hours a
day switches off our brains so we don’t have to think about our own
lives and when it’s time to turn the TV off and reality comes to bite
us in the rear, what do the majority of us do then? We retreat into
the safe confines of television once again.

TV can easily become the biggest time thief of all and yet, people
don’t realize it. They don’t become indignant at the opportunities in
life that they lose. It’s amazing how people take the time to buy the
best security for their home so their precious belongings don’t get
stolen, but when it comes to protecting their mind and their time, two
of their biggest assets, the doors are wide open for easy pickings.
People have got to realize that the quality of their lives can become
so much better if they just take the time to stop watching TV and
channel that toward creating the life they want to live.

Here’s a thought. Unplug the box and put it high up in your closet so
it’s a pain in the butt to reach it. You’ll learn to live without it.
The sun will shine that much brighter, food will taste that much
better, and life will be that much sweeter.

When it’s all said and done, watching too much television provides you
with a safe escape from looking at your own life, deteriorates your
mind, makes you unproductive, and can lead to a dangerous addiction.
It truly is one of the most dangerous drugs out there on the market
today and the sad thing about it is, most people don’t even realize
it.











#Conversation Questions

Television



1. Are you going to watch TV tonight?

If so, what will you watch?

2. What did you watch on TV yesterday?

3. What is one of your favorite TV shows?

Why do you like it?

When is it on?

4. Do you prefer listening to the radio or watching TV?

5. Do you think it is good for children to watch TV?

Do you think TV is educational?

Do you think that there is too much violence on TV?

Do you think that TV is a good thing?

6. If you could design a new television show to boost ratings, what
kind of show would it be?

7. What are the advantages of watching TV?

What are the disadvantages of watching TV?

8. What kind of TV programs do you usually watch?

9. What kind of TV shows do you not like? Why?

10. What TV commercials do you like? Which ones do you hate?

What's your favorite commercial?

11. Could you live without TV for a week?