Sunday, November 7, 2010

Prompt # 8

Research shows that the average American watches as much as six hours of television each day. Do you think this is too much? Write an essay convincing readers to spend less time in front of the TV.

Television is a powerful tool of today’s society. Though convenient, it too has its setbacks. Television, a rich source of collecting data efficiently, manages to decrease the intelligence of the people exposed to it. If one compares the ambitions those had in the past, they have decreased tremendously. Ambitions of becoming a doctors or a teacher have decreased to becoming famous or a billionaire. How is this possible? Through the influence of television. It lurks in every household affecting three main factors: physical being, intelligence, and how the mind processes memory. All factors are affected negatively, which is why the average American should do something more productive with their time than watching six hours of television per day.


Why is one’s physical being considered a factor? The answer is quite simple due to the efficiency of television broadcasting stations. The information is transmitted rapidly through the advance of today’s technology, thus exposing the common people to these images. What lies in these images is truly affecting the minds of many people. How? Children who see someone "better" or more "perfect" than them on television feel the need to become perfect. Children who spend too much time watching television tend to gain weight by watching their favorite shows instead of playing and spending time with friends. How do these effects affect children in the long run? For one thing, more children now are concerned about their looks and looking more like adults. This is why children now lack the creativity skills they once had in the past.


With technology as a shortcut for many of the things we do today there is no questioning that it would soon affect the intelligence rate. Although most of the technology is made to be efficient, television is a distraction. It is not alone. Along with television, we now have cell phones, mp3’s, DVD’S, video games, and etc. What is the purpose of these gadgets, to distract the individual from reality? Even though it is an enjoyable experience to be whisked away into this world of fantasy, in reality the individual just wasted precious time, when they could have been doing something productive. While the individual is watching their shows, they get exposed to inappropriate language and behavior. All this exposure only reduces intelligence, which could have been put into greater use.


How does this affect the mind? For one thing, its apparent that many students today lack the ability of memorization. Adults have a better way of visualizing past memories so vividly. As a teenager, it is truly amazing when an adults tells stories of their past because so many details are used with in that small conversation. On the other hand, many classmates lack a sprinkle of imagination and creativity. Why? Ah, because they lack memorization skills. Ones memory is a wonderful thing, where all the items that one has learnt throughout the years get put to good use. With television only as a learner’s distraction, there is no doubt that this causes short attention span in many of the children today. In fact, other countries there are regulations that prohibit overexposure to television. What do these regulations succeed in? Making stronger and smarter individuals for the future.


Overall, it is easy to day that television is a tool that distracts many American citizens today. Long-term effects include negative thought or actions towards one’s physical being, intelligence, and memory. That being said, television is a negative component of today’s society, thus meaning that Americans should watch less of it. By doing so, civilians increase their ambitions and goals, rather than watching the distracting "light box" six hours a day.

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