Television

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Life is short! Who has time to waste on television? Not I. One thing you will realize when you get out of high school is that you have to place a value on your time. Ask yourself questions like: "Is this really worth my time?," before you give your time to an activity. If you really are honest with yourself you'll notice that there are far better things you could be doing than watching television. Why watch other peoples lives go by on a screen when you could be out there experiencing your own? The decision whether you want to watch television is entirely yours. Consider the following things before you make your decision.

TV is Educational

TV is an ineffective medium for learning. If you really want to learn something you'd be better off reading it for yourself. For example, if you took the transcript of your educational television program it would take you only about 15 minutes to read it.

TV Lets You Know What's Happening

If you watch your average news program you have to wade through an hour of what they consider "news," just to get "up-to-date." If you really want to know what is happening in the world, read the newspaper. The newspaper is much more detailed than a TV story and you can choose which stories you want to read.

TV is Harmless

Some TV is a harmless waste of time, some is educational, but some is quite harmful. "How is it harmful?," you may ask. A typical American child is exposed to 8,000 murders on television by the time t hey finish elementary school. By the time they graduate from high school they will have seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV. Don't even try telling me that this is like real life. Most people see no murders and very few violent acts in their life time. Where is it written that you have to have violence to have entertainment?

Way back in 1961 Mr. Newton N. Minow, chairman on the Federal Communication Commission said the following:

"I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air, and stay there. You will see a vast wasteland—a procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families… blood and thunder … mayhem, violence, sadism, murder … private eyes, more violence, and cartoons … and, endlessly, commercials—many screaming, cajoling, and offending."

Newton N. Minow, 1961 - FCC chairman to the National Association of Broadcasters

TV Wastes Time

The average American spends about 2 hours a day watching TV. Say you lived to age 60 you would have spent 5 years of your life in front of the television. Do you know what you could do with an extra 5 years? A lot! That wasn't just time you wasted, it was your life, life that you completely wasted.

What should you do with these extra 5 years, spread out over your lifetime? Do something you, "don't have time for." Here are a few suggestions:

• Read
• Take walks
• Learn a foreign language
• Learn to play an instrument
• Write
• Talk to people
• Create some art

No matter what you do its bound to be more worthwhile than just squandering your time. Using those two hours a day for something you "don't have time for," will make you have time for a lot more. You may actually get your studying done, the checkbook balanced. If you still don't believe that TV is not worth your time, check out the following facts that were published by an organization called TV-free America. 

I Couldn't Live Without TV

Hmm, this is starting to sound like an addiction. Try a little experiment, simply stop watching television for a certain amount of time. Go on a television fast for say two-weeks. It may be hard at first missing your favorite shows and being forced to keep up with the world via the newspaper and online sources. But it will be worth it. You will see, just from your little "fast" that not only can you live without television, you can get more done without it. Try it and see!