Television

Television is a very powerful medium, especially for children and adolescents, but even for adults. Thousands of people are hired to try to make TV as engaging a medium as possible, and endless hours are used to create even the shortest of commercials. Consequently, images and sounds are condensed in a heightened manner, which is very engaging, but artificial. TV is not real life, but it seems like real life. TV is often more exciting than real life, that is part of its appeal, and that is part of its danger.

When I say that TV is a type of drug, you need to realize that your body and mind process everything as nerve/electrical impulses and chemical signals. That is how you think, that is how you feel, and that is how you move. When you are excited, your body releases chemicals (adrenaline). When you are angry, your body releases chemicals (adrenaline). When you are happy, your body releases chemicals (endorphins). Drugs are chemicals that people take for various reasons. People watch TV for various reasons.

Drugs are not bad in themselves. Drugs are usually a problem when they are abused. TV, as a type of drug, is not bad in itself. TV is usually a problem when it is abused. In my opinion, more than two hours of TV a day, as entertainment, is an abuse. Basically TV is used as entertainment, because we find life dull, or because we want to be distracted. Basically, we want to escape from our thoughts and ourselves. Taking a vacation can be very beneficial, but trying to escape on a daily basis is not productive or healthy. Also, drug abuse is usually addictive. TV is definitely an addictive medium.

I think that TV abuse is the cause of many of the problems we have today. Because schools are not as entertaining as TV, students have difficulty paying attention. TV is basically a passive medium, so students tend to view school in a similar manner. If a TV program had a dialog with the viewer, requiring the viewer to regularly respond, most people would change the channel. That is what many students try to do in a classroom, by thinking about something else, or drawing pictures, or talking to their neighbor, or writing letters. 

Also, people watch TV news to try to stay informed, but they are getting a very limited viewpoint, as TV news is designed to be entertainment. It shouldn’t be any surprise that TV news covers the same topics as popular TV programs: murder, crime, car chases, love affairs, sex, political corruption, etc. It should also not come as a surprise that people think society is going downhill, since that is most of what they see in the news. Political coverage tends to side with the party in power, so the news is mostly propaganda (see Propaganda).

Because drug abuse usually leads to the same dosage becoming less effective, TV producers have needed to alter the drug. They have come up with hundreds of drugs (programs and channels) instead of just a few. They have created stronger drugs (so called Reality TV programs), with a heightened level of impact. They have sought to increase the level of excitement or impact to keep the same level of effect and interest. Unfortunately, the desire for even more powerful drugs has kids turning to other sources.

I think aggressive computer games are the result of the need for greater excitement. On TV, something exciting happens every few minutes. In most computer games, something exiting happens every second. The fastest games have excitement