Book Review: Marie Winn's 'The Plug-In Drug'

Numerous studies have concluded that the content and amount of television programming watched by individuals – especially by children - has a direct result on the behavior of that individual. The behavior affected by television viewing can be anything from a desire for a certain food or material good to violent distemper (Zuckerman 1985.) Recently, more and more woman have given up their traditional role of raising their children opting instead to work during the day and leave their children to take care of themselves. Unfortunately, many children find that spending countless hours in front of the television to be a worthwhile way to entertain themselves. Most parents tell their children never to talk to strangers, but what they fail to realize is that every day their children are subject to the messages and ideas of strangers on the television. In fact, a study concluded that an average American by the age of 18 has spent more time watching television than they have spent in school; this study also went on the state that children spend more time watching television than any other activity besides sleeping. This may explain why an additional study revealed that if a child was told something by his or her parents and then viewed on television something that contradicted what the parents had said, four times out of five the child opted to believe the

The effects of watching Television on adolescents are tremendous. It has grown with us humans and has help up grow as humans all of these years. From my point of view, all I see is nothing more than improvement and success with the more years to come we have with our evolving knowledge with

     Although Marie Win had her point, I tend to disagree that television is a bad influence on our lives. Television does not destroy family value; it is us who destroy family value. For example parents who have little or no time for their children often substitute television as a baby-sitter and parents blame television as child bad conduct. But it is parents who should to be blame for the child's bad behavior because not providing proper care and guide for the child. Parents should set limitation and boundaries for themselves to cope with the television addiction. Family matter should be their number one priority in family.

Television plays a very important role in everyday life. As children grow and develop, they can be influenced by what they see and hear.

Some people say television is bad, but in my opinion I do not think so, here are some comparison points. Newspapers you read for the news and to catch up on the current sports score even read the comics. On television, you can watch the news when it is on, and then change over to ESPN and check the sports score, and if you are a kid at heart, you watch some cartoons. They say that it kills brain cells, that you do not learn anything from tv, I am pretty sure that most Americans that do watch television can tell you they learned at least a few things by watching

Television can affect learning and school performance if it exceeds the time kids need for their crucial for healthy physical and mental development. Most of children's free time, especially during the early development years, should be spent in activities such as playing, reading, exploring nature, learning about music or participating in sports. Research has shown that children's exposure to television during the preschool years is predictive of academic outcomes during adolescence. The most notable lesson about this

Add to this study a statistic from the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics “75% of teenagers now own cell phones, 25% use them for social media, 54% use them for texting, and 24% of them use them for instant messaging” (Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe). We have an entire generation that is developing socially and emotionally while “plugged-in”. This negative effect is not only caused by just internet use and cell phones, our old friend the television is causing us harm as well. With the invent of newer ways to deliver television shows, the ability to better record television shows, and watch “on demand” shows it shouldn’t be shocking to know that according to Neilson Ratings the average American household watches “5 hours and 11 minutes of television a day” (Who Watches What (and How Much)? U.S. TV Trends by Ethnicity). Psychologists have proven that too much television has been shown to “hamper development of the pre-frontal cortex -- the area of the brain responsible for planning, organizing and sequencing behavior for self-control, moral judgment and attention” (Abell) there should be no doubt that this fact and the fact that nearly “1 in 10 children in America have been

The negative effects of television are huge. To minimize the potential negative effects of television, it's important to understand what the impact of television can be on children.

The first reason tv and other types of media is so toxic to us is the amount of time we the average american spends on it is absolutely outrageous. A study was shown in this is your teen on screens that says that only 20% of teen and kids get the nine hours of sleep that are needed for that age and 45% get less than 8 hours a night. This fact really shows how much time we

Today, television is everywhere and effects families and family life in impactful and often destructive ways. The medium is like an addictive drug where hours are dedicated to its use and mass consumption. In Marie Winn's essay, "Television: The Plug-in Drug," she described the effects of television on young children and the family environment at home. Television is one of the most dominating diverting factors of the common family as she noted throughout her work producing a scathing and prophetic view of the medium as it plays out in modern times. The purpose of this essay is to explore Winn's essay in terms of her honest and heartfelt approach leading to the article's overall appeal and effect.

Some people say that too much screen time for children is bad for their health. Others argue that it's perfectly fine for children to enjoy some time with the TV. I personally believe that in moderation, TV isn't that bad. In the article, It's Time to Let Go of Screen Fears, it states that kids who watched telvison with parent showed signs of decreased anger and fear. In my own experience, I've seen the positive affects that TV has on children. Although it can be a good thing, if you don't limit your time with the TV it can be harmful.

Technology throughout the past 30-40 years has become more advanced and accessible than ever. The television specifically has developed extremely since its beginning. What started off as a single camera caption, has developed into a full fledge worldwide availability. Within the United States, the TV is a normal everyday object common in households, hotels, schools, and even restaurants. There are approximately 118.4 million household in the United States that own a television set ( The Number of TV Households in the United States from season 2000-2001 to season 2016-2017 (in millions)).However, the increased amount of time spent watching TV has had a tremendous impact on people, especially kids. The differences in generations throughout the development of the TV has led to many questions, all revolving around whether or not the televisions has had a good or negative impact pertaining to children. Time spent watching television affects the brain, ability to learn, and skill levels in different areas (source. In the book “Last Child in The Woods,” Richard Louv discusses how children in the 1940’s would watch out the window at the scenery and have conversations, while children now sit and watch a movie on a flip-down video screen without knowledge to the outside world (Louv 16-17).

School performance also can be drastically affected if children are exposed to too much screen time. They will not make time to do their homework, which will ultimately have a negative impact on their grades.  Younger people are affected much more easily by what they see or hear on television or the computer. These things will have a bigger impact and influence on them than they would on someone older who knows better and knows what is right and wrong. There are plenty of commercials and shows on television that can be a bad influence on kids. Everything from violence and crime to drugs and sexual content can be found on both the computer and television. Even though parents try their best to teach their children right from wrong, if they see these things enough on a regular basis, it will have some kind of negative effect on them. When children see these bad things happening on television, and they see that nothing is being done to stop them, they automatically assume that it is all acceptable for them to do as well. This, again, can begin to affect other aspects of their lives negatively such as school and their behavior.

To add, it harms a child's development issues because it gives off artificial encouragement to the senses. A child's vision can be harmed because of the quick movement of the images, and hearing can be impaired because of poor sound features. The overall aspect of it is, children learn better from interactive learning and experiencing emotions, talking to loved ones, and making friends to play with. With a television they get none of that, instead they develop short attention spans because of the various thins they "learn" in one sitting ("Television...").

There is no doubt that when it comes to American youth television is one of the biggest influences by far. Many parents would love to say that their child does not watch that much TV but in reality they are spending a lot of time watching television or using media in some way. “The study by the Kaiser Family foundation shows that children ages 2-8 spend an average of 5 ½ hours a day “consuming media” kids 8 and older spend even more time in front of the tube nearly 6 ¾ hours a day” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005 ). Astonishingly, more time is being spent with media then doing homework, studying or even spending time with family. A child’s retention of what