NO MORE TV

Children should not be allowed to watch television.  Television programs have a negative influence in the lives of children and promote no educational benefits.  Television actually takes away from education; encouraging children to stay inside and watch pointless television shows without positive messages.  Children can become engrossed in a television show and refuse to do their homework or study.  Television watching has also become a very unhealthy pastime of children today, decreasing the amount of children who choose to be active after school.  Television is also negatively shaping the minds of the youth and lowering moral standards. 

            Instead of children spending their free time reading and broadening their minds as well as their vocabulary, they are mindlessly watching television.  As if watching un-educational programs is not bad enough, television watching also promotes mindless eating.  It has been proven that an individual is likely to consume more food if they are eating while watching a television show or movie than if they are just having an afternoon snack.  When an individual is focused on a television show or movie, he or she is not thinking about what is entering their mouth or how much food they are consuming.  This mindless eating leads children to continue eating until they run out of food; ultimately resulting in gaining weight.  

            Obesity has become a serious problem in society today, and television is only increasing the numbers in the obese population.  Television watching encourages children to stay inside, thus reducing the amount of children who are participating in healthy activities such as exercising and playing with friends.  Children need to release their energy after a long day at school; so being outside with friends will keep kids healthy by releasing stress and encouraging social interaction.  On many occasions, children watch television alone, which holds them back from making friends and interacting with their peers.    

            Children not only disregard their friends because of television, but they also tend to ignore their families.  Families are no longer spending quality time together like they did before the invention of the television.  This is because in society today, children do not need their families to entertain them; they have TV to do that.  Even if families do watch television together, they are not interacting with each other or talking about important matters; they are only together in the same room. 

            Many shows on television today are very racy and inappropriate for children to watch.  Even family sitcoms such as Friends and Seinfeld promote sexual activity and openly discuss sexual promiscuity.  The majority of television shows do not have a positive message or support healthy hobbies.  Smoking, alcohol consumption, cursing, sex, and violence are almost always expected to appear in television shows.  Children should not be introduced to these severe topics through television in which they are lightly handled.  Instead, parents should be informing their child about sex, drugs, alcohol, and other serious matters that are so common in today’s society. 

            The reoccurrence of sex, violence, and drug and alcohol use in everyday television begins to influence children into believing that these are not major problems or big deals.  When a child continually watches violent television, they are more likely to act violently and aggressively towards others because they do not think that there is anything wrong with the way in which they are acting.  Also, when children repeatedly see sex on television, their morals become altered and sex is no longer and intimate bond between two people, but an activity following a date. 

            Because children are young, their minds are easily molded by what they observe and watch on television.  When they repeatedly see sexual activity, cursing, violent acts of crime taking place, and drug use, these things begin to be taken lightly when they should not be.  Instead of television positively affecting children by promoting exercise and living a healthy lifestyle, television is negatively affecting children and shaping their minds and should not be watched.   Children need to spend their free time interacting with other children and running around outside instead of isolating themselves inside, in front of a television screen.   Not only does spending time outside with friends promote physical activity, but it also releases stress and betters an individual’s social skills.  If children refrain from watching television, out world will become a more intelligent place, and our population will become less obese; thus creating a healthier and happier planet.