Television

Television is a big part of most of our lives. We watch our favourite shows on it every week. Our parents watch the news on it every night, and we settle down in front of it for the weekend movie.

Most Australian families have one in their household, so it’s not as if we don’t have a clue what it is. Like anything in the world, there are different sides to the story, but is TV really as good as it is hyped up to be?

Television can be educational, such as when stations broadcast documentaries like World Around Us on Channel 7. People watch it and discover things they never knew about the animal or place featured. It could later influence them to travel to that certain place to experience such sights as featured on TV. This will then boost tourism for that place.

By watching Television at night or after school, students are given something to talk about, provided they paid attention to what was going on. They can discuss their views on certain issues that may affect them, appeal to them or influence them to make the same decisions made on the show. It can be entertaining because some people may impersonate cartoon characters, making people laugh and brightening up their day.

Television is really versatile- one can watch it when they like. They can turn it off if they reckon the show they are viewing is absolute crap, and best of all, it cannot hear or see their criticism. One can say how pathetic the actor is behaving, fall asleep during the show, or comment on the clothes they are wearing, or judge their acting style, and not have to worry about the reactions, because, IT’S ONLY A BOX!!

There are down sides toward watching TV; too much may be bad for your eyes, or cause you to develop a splitting headache. Such pain is a discomfort to other activities carried out throughout the day and night.

If one spends all his time in front of the television, then it means a lack of many things, including exercise, social outings, fresh air, and MONEY. Yes, that’s right, like all things, Television cost's money. The power bill needs to be paid, an aerial needs to be installed, and maintenance will eventually be needed. TV is not of much use to one if the power has been cut off or there is a blackout, and it does not help if they are located out in the middle of nowhere, where there are no electricity outlets.

Television requires full attention by the viewer, so whilst the person is sitting with his eyes glued to the screen, everything else comes to a standstill. These days there are so many new inventions that people are trying to convince viewers to purchase, and by watching too much TV, one may begin to get ’sucked in’. This will lead to excess money being spent.

Not all programs on Television these days are suitable for children to view. There is a dramatic increase of violence, coarse language, murder, and crime. This is setting a very bad example for children. It may even lead to them attempting to commit such crimes and acts that would most probably put a bad name to all youths. Having a bad name would then limit their activities, feeling more guilty because everyone would be watching them. And to think it was all because of TV. There is not really anything they can do about it though because people are still going to watch it, whether they put it on later at night, or ‘cut’ it. People will always find a way around it.

Overall, there are different sides to the story and different aspects to consider. Television is a bigger part of our lives than some would prefer, but in ways it can be of benefit. We learn something new from television every day. Whether it be a world event, attained from watching the news, or the meaning of a word attained through a cartoon, we are always learning from it even though we may not realise it.