In this essay I will be talking about how children are affected by television. Although many parents these days do not want their children to watch television, there are a lot of educational shows available today. Many parents may not want their children to watch modern television, and I would have to tell those parents that there are some shows out there these days that are very educational and they are aimed towards the young. Watching the educational cartoons can be very helpful for a child’s mind. There can be positive results emotionally, physically, and psychologically.
Around ninety-nine percent of families in America own a television, which means they watch TV a little bit each day. So Steven Johnson is writing to a very big audience and tries to persuade to them that watching TV makes you smarter. He starts out his article with a conversation of two scientists from the Woody Allen’s movie Sleeper. The script was supposed to be an opening joke because in the movie all the food that is supposed to be bad for you, turned out to be good for you in the future. The central claim of Steven Johnson’s article would be that watching TV makes you smarter.
He believed that television has an impact on children because of what’s in it. The medium he spoke of pulls people into the box of the new age focus and types of living, many times stirring our attention from something to nothing by involving more senses. To Mr. McLuhan, print only involved one sense, the visual. It only kept our attention in one way which was in small bits. “It enabled Western man to specialize and to mechanize, but it also led, he said, to ''alienation from their other senses.” This single handedly shows why our medium is evolving.
Because of Sleeper Curve, according to Johnson, TV viewers need to improve their skill to watch modern TV shows with multiple plot lines. (279) Johnson believes that “the Sleeper Curve is the single most important new force altering the mental development of young people today, and I believe it is largely a force for good: enhancing our cognitive faculties, not dumbing them down.”(279) In other words, Sleeper Curve is the main reason why it benefits the viewers. Johnson also stated that Sleeper Curves trained TV watchers, but the watchers also want a more challenging stories in the TV series. Thus, the ‘bad TVs’ also has to improve themselves so they can catch up. (289~291) I agree with Johnson’s claim of, Sleeper Curve makes the viewers improve so they Liu 2 can and will want to watch more TV shows.
Neil Postman strongly believes that due to the extent of technology we have today compared to the past 50 years, the idea of childhood is disappearing. This is caused by children being able to easily access ‘the content of the adult world’ through television that is unfolded all at once, making it hard to control the socialization of the young. Postman backs up his argument with figures that show in particular that children are fully engaged in crime and stresses how children lack a real childhood compared to the past 50 years. Although he tries and creates a stronger argument with statistics there is no definite relationship between crime and watching TV, this is just a correlation as other factors may be increasing crime. Sue Palmer is another sociologist that believes the increasing impact of technology and the media over the past 50 years is causing childhood to deteriorate.
It’s a positive influence, because overall media has it good. Nowadays you are able to do so much things via media, you are able learn from it; there are various forms of educational options you can receive via media, you can also communicate with relatives through social media. Some people would think It would be negative, because they bad things that’s displayed on these media devices. Such as rated R movies and children still being allowed to see these things, which aren’t suitable for children. Since before my time, media has had a huge impact on American culture.
Children who are older may be able to understand the difference between fantasy and reality a little better, therefore older children should be able to play games at a parents discretion. Some experts say,” kids are attracted to video games not so much by the violence, but because the games present puzzles or problems to solve (Sherry 1). The media and many other angry parents like to find a source to blame such as video games. Although video games are very entertaining and becoming more of a virtual reality the truth
For example, One can watch a one hour history program and be interested in what is being said where as most people would not make it to page five of a history book. Although watching Television may be more fun and entertaining, In Johnson’s article Why Games Are Good For You, he talks about how effective media have become in educating children but at the same time these methods of teaching are causing children to lack cognitive skills, causing a deficiency in concentration skills, the ability to pay attention, as
With the invention of the internet, television and cellular phone growing up in today’s world is comparatively easier than that of our parents or better yet, their parents. On an average, busy, day we might not notice how much technology really affect us; something considered a miracle just a few years age is now an everyday occurrence. From the second our cell phone alarm clock wakes us up until we shut down our computers or TVs and go to bed, technology is all around us and is becoming more and more depended on. Children comprehend these complicated inventions at progressively younger ages, and we should wonder if this is good for their developing minds. To be so over stimulated by such mesmerizing TV shows, or internet games or cell phone features, or would it be healthier to grow up naturally, with just a coloring book and their endless imagination.
Since the advent of cable television, there have been more and more fascinating programs sticking viewers, especially children, into the screen. This, therefore, creates certain complaints that it is wasteful your time watching TV. However, with all the benefits it provides, television is really worth watching. One of the strength points making television much more preferable than other means of information – supply, such as newspaper and radio, is that it can provide news together with animated pictures and lively sounds. Thus, viewers can get more details of the news and enjoy it much more than reading lots of words in newspaper or listen to voices on radio only.