Lazy American Students

In Steven Johnson's persuasive essay “Watching Tv Makes You Smarter,” he defies what our culture teaches us about television. Our society teaches that television is making our youth “dumb” and that our culture enjoys the “simple pleasures” so that is what the media companies are feeding us with. But, Johnson states that based on what the show “24” suggests, the “exact opposite is happening: the culture is getting more cognitively demanding, not less” (1). The growing interest of TV programs with complex mental faculties involves three primary elements: multiple threading, flashing arrows and social networks (2).

Sachs explains that TV viewing brings little pleasure and close to being an addiction with little benefit and almost no happiness. This appeals to the readers emotionally since most can identify with some sort of addiction and its fallout. Most Americans have some sort of addiction, whether it is food or television and relate when the author uses this analogy to compare. Sachs goes on to claim that this addiction is leading to the decline in our social development since we spend less time face to face and more time in front of a TV or other media devices. Time that was once spent with family is now in front of a television screen or other media devices. This hold true as much now as it did in 2011 when this essay was written. Just this one statement can draw a reader further in since now almost all of us have a device that fits in our pockets that takes our attention away from other people. We end up looking down at our phones or tablets more than we look at other peoples faces. This, unfortunately, is becoming a sad truth in our society today. We would rather look into a world that is hard to distinguish what is real and what is made up instead of enjoying the real world. Sachs does state that there are other factors contributing to the decline of our social state in America

The spread of television has affected American households universally, which started in the 1940s but has continued to make a dramatic surge. There is a trend at that is being captured across televisions in households everywhere. Politics, reality television, social media and public information is being broadcast from household to household. Television has in a way become a mode of how we think and interact with each other. Television is starting to leave that bubble where it was strictly entertainment, now television is becoming a source of what we must believe. The consumer demand for television as spiked dramatically, in the way we view ourselves and perceive others in the world around us is through a television screen. Although we are

24% of teenagers say that they go online “almost constantly” everyday according to a study from the Pew Research Center. In our society today, adults, teens, and children are always using some form of technology. Technology can be used for important purposes such as school or work. Other times technology only serves as a distraction from what really matters in life. We get very attached to technology and that can become a problem. In Fahrenheit 451, the main character Montag is a firemen who is trained to destroy books because the society’s government thinks that books are dangerous because they cause conflict. In place of books, many people use parlor wall TVs as their entertainment. The screens on the parlor walls serve as an unhealthy distraction.

     What role does television play in society? For decades we have seen many parts of our world rapidly going through changes in technology. Today’s society has been transformed by means of communication and the available information through mass media. Most Americans rely on television for news, sports, and entertainment. Television is just one of the many examples of how technology has changed our lives. Since the invention of the television in the early 1900’s, it has played a very important role in our lives. Having a television set in the home has become very essential in today’s society. We depend on it to entertain us with its sitcoms and to inform us about current world issues. The

It is hard to understand how the youngest age group studied, those between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, had the time to watch T.V. for almost two hours a day during the school week. It seems like

As mentioned in Gitlin’s research, statistics show that, “ ‘watching TV is the dominant leisure activity of Americans, consuming 40 percent of the average person’s free time as a primary activity [when people give television there undivided attention]’ ” (Gitlin 560). Even the wealthier parts of poor worlds have access to some sort of media. It would take someone from a third world country to be stunned by the fact that our lives are constantly portrayed through television, radio, internet

While it is one view that all students lack work ethic it is the view of Patrick Welsh a teacher at T.C Williams High School that not all children lack work ethic. He says that his “American students lack motivation, self discipline, and work ethic, unlike immigrant students who he says work hard in school”(Welsh,Patrick. “American Kids Are Unmotivated”). He says that in his experience “young americans blame their teachers, not themselves, for the bad grades they receive when they do not put effort into their work”(Welsh,Patrick. “American Kids Are Unmotivated”). The students chose not to work hard and the grades they receive reflect that but parents and students decide that it wasn’t there fault it was the teachers. When really they are not working hard in class. When kids were asked what the most important factor in their performance in math is “the percentage of Japanese and Taiwanese students that answered studying hard was twice that of Americans”while American students named native intelligence, and some said the home environment. But a clear majority of U.S. students put the responsibility on their teachers. A good teacher, they said, was the determining factor in how well they did in math” (Welsh,Patrick. “American Kids Are Unmotivated”). This shows that American students have lost their work ethic. However this also shows that not everyone has lost their work ethic as the Asian students still value studying hard which is a value that many American students have

According to multiple studies, adults and teens spend more hours using technology than they do asleep. On average, adults spend 8 hours and 40 minutes per day using laptops, phones, and other electronics. On the other hand, teens spend about 9 hours using various forms of media. Mark Bauerlein, a social critic, professor, and author of The Dumbest Generation claims the under thirty generation is the “dumbest” generation in modern history due to technology. He says there are two differences between past generations and the under thirty generation, general knowledge has gone down and reading habits have vanished. The under-thirty generation is the dumbest because people squander the opportunities technology provides, which proves having an abundance of resources doesn’t assure success.

Citizens in the United States have the same general behavior as those in Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451. This novel features a world where cars are fast, music is loud, and watching television is the main way to spend free time. People rarely make time for each other, rarely imagine and form their own opinions, and rarely take the time to stop and smell the roses. Ever since the television came out, it has made a huge impact on how information has been passed around. It seems that the television has become abused with the movies, television series, and video games whose importance seems to outweigh that of getting out to spend time with friends and family, exploring and trying new things. “According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day” (Herr). Considering there isn’t much time in the day after work and sleep, that’s a long time to be sitting doing almost nothing. In Fahrenheit 451, the civilians are consumed in

People very often debate whether technology is good or bad. Many people believe that technology can only cause harm to their lives and society, while many others strongly defend the technologies which have made their lives much more leisurely and enriching than it could have been several hundred years ago. In my opinion, both of these views are correct to an extent, but I also believe that what should be examined is not whether technology in its self is good or bad, but rather how we as humans use it.For decades now, television has been accused of contributing to the dissolution of the American family and the destruction of the minds of those who watch it. However, although the TV has been involved in this, the problem roots not with

As asked by the English alternative rock band Muse in their famous song “Screenager,” “Who’s so phoney and always surrounded?” This song perfectly depicts the effects of technology on America. People are engulfed by different types of technology everywhere they go and even carry around technology such as phones, laptops, and iPods. These items may seem like a blessing, but they are potentially dividing America. Every day, eight to eighteen-year-olds watch four and a half hours of TV, listen to two and a half hours of music, use the computer for an hour and a half, and spend two and a half hours on their cell phones, two hours for texting and one half hour for talking. This adds up to eleven hours dedicated on the media per day (Crawford).

The worth of media is a very controversial topic. Media has given us the ability to do things in new and creative ways such as how we learn and accomplish our everyday tasks. However, we do not always know how to interpurate this information. The technology available today is constantly impacting and influencing society in tremendous ways. Many of the impacts that are accocated with media are addressed in negative ways, but can be seen from a positive perspective as well. In the current generation, media and its influences can be found everywhere. These influences widely impact today’s adolescents and maturing teenagers because they are still developing into adults. Medias purpose is not only to inform us, but to allow us to mold ourselves in how we want to be perceived online. Also, it allows us easy access to unbelievable amounts of information. Living in an era known as the “information age” is riveting, but what are we suppose to do with all of this new technology and information?

A few of my fellow neighbors are on their laptops studying or on their social medias glancing a few moments at what’s on the television screen. Unlike those sitting in front of the table those who are sitting at the couches are gazing at the different programs being transmitted on the television screen. All of us seem to be watching the television for the same purpose as a pure form of entertainment to relieve stress from being a student. Each time a commercial starts mostly everyone go on their phones or use that time to go to the restroom as well as change the channels.

The television is also a very important aspect of popular culture that affects the American Identity. Watching television is such a common part of contemporary society, that most Americans adopted it as a part of their daily routine and watch television for at least an hour a day. Stanley Crouch, a poet, music and cultural critic, writes that whenever people pretentiously and proudly announce, “I don’t watch television,” they should follow it up with “I don’t look at America either” (Masciotra 79). Television has become a part of many people’s lives. When the mass population watches the same TV shows, movies, etc. they can all relate to each other, and thus unite them as an American. We look to TV shows to see how other people like us act