Summary Of The Trouble With Television By Robert Macneil

Riding a bike, writing poems, or even bouncing a ball, entertainment comes in many forms in every society, television is just one and has been influencing Canadians since it was showcased in 1938 in Toronto, for the Canadian National Exhibition. After first appearing, the progression of television, and the impact it has had over the past seventy-five years has been an interest for many sociologists, educators and researchers because it is constantly changing. Opinions and research of the impacts that television have on society are sometimes viewed as negative, whether it be regarding content, mental stimulation, physical health or many other factors contributing to the development of society. Other opinions and research suggests that television

The world has grown and evolved in so many ways. One of the most revolutionary, man-made, everyday appliance for your house hold is the TV. The TV has brought so much more to a person’s finger tips at a click of a button and flipping to a channel to what they want to see. You can watch different food programs, where to buy things, what is going on in everyday American life knows as the “News”. Or just a show on TV for entertainment. And the list goes on and so forth.

What can be the effect of television on people’s lives? People living in these days are addicted to watching TV. However, it is true that watching too much television makes people lose touch with the reality of their lives; they start to see the TV “world” as the real world instead of the world they are living in. This situation divides their loyalties, and all of this is controlled by the people who control the media. Many examples exist in the world that we live and in the world of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. For example, the way the media lies people proves that people are not in the “real” world when they are watching TV and being taught to what had been told to them. Or, people are hooked on television so much that they neglect and

In the article “TV’s Negative Influence on Kids Reaffirmed” by Jeffrey M. McCall, he addresses the issue of how TV has a negative influence on children. McCall states that young children and toddler’s cognitive ability do not develop as well when they have a television in the background while they are playing and interacting. McCall also argues that TV has a very influential role in the teenage pregnancy rate and how early teens become sexually active. To further prove his point, McCall proclaims that children and teens that are exposed to large amounts of television and video games become socially awkward and have issues interacting in society. McCall also says that the networks are rating their own programs carelessly, which is leading to shows that should be restricted by a V-chip being watched by children, rendering the restricting system null and void.

In an article ' The Plug-In Drug ' the author Marie Winn discusses the bad influence of television on today's society. Television is a ' drug ' that interfere with family ritual, destroys human relationships and undermines the family.

     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

The Television is often the centerpiece of typical American house. TVs are now a representative the American dream. TVs are even used to measure finical wellbeing. Huge flat screen TVs symbolize success, while smaller TVs represent modesty. People crowd around the TV to watch the big game, to catch up on the news and keep up with pop culture. Is there something wrong with this so-called wonder device known as the Television? Marie Winn, author of book Unplugging the plug-in drug, argues this point in the chapter “The Trouble with Television” claiming that the television negatively affects families and specifically children. Marie Winn is an author and journalist who is known for her write ups on wildlife and television. The book was published in 1987 and describes eight ways in which the television is damaging. Winn makes it a point not to argue against the content of television, but rather how the television effects family relationships and is a detriment to children’s development. While I agree with some of Winn’s, overall, I disagree with her assessment of television. The points that Winn made that I disagree with include, TV allows kids to grow up less civilized, TV keeps family from doing other things, TV makes children less resourceful, TV has a negative effect on children’s school achievement and TV has a negative effect on children’s physical fitness.

In the article “TV’s Negative Influence on Kids Reaffirmed” by Jeffrey M. McCall, he addresses the issue of how TV has a negative influence on children. McCall states that young children and toddler’s cognitive ability does not develop as well when they have television in the background while they are playing. McCall also argues that TV has a very influential role in the teen pregnancy rate and how early teens become sexually active. To further prove his point, McCall proclaims that children and teens that are exposed to too much Television and video games become socially awkward and have trouble interacting in society. McCall also says that the networks are rating their own programs carelessly which is leading to shows that should be blocked

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

Television is incorporated into my daily routine whether it is watching the news in the morning or a movie at night. When I watch the news in the morning I catch up on current events and other news. On the other hand. At night I watch movies for entertainment and enjoyment. Television is not just changing people into couch potatoes by watching “chasing fast cars, drinking lite beer, shooting each other t close range, etc.”, it also can be a daily tool to learn new things and catch up on current events.

The short story “Harrison Bergeron” brings into question the productivity that television contributes to society. This story, by Kurt Vonnegut, has been criticized as “a kind of desensitizing, numbing, and clearly thought-stifling, rather than thought-provoking medium that is partly responsible for the state of society.” Television, in reality, can be argued as a positive and negative medium that both benefits and hinders the public. Whether television is viewed as a beneficial or counterproductive mechanism is based its use. This form of media can be utilized as a source of knowledge, information, and education, or it can be used as negative propaganda, or as a form of brainwashing, as demonstrated in “Harrison Bergeron”. There is no cut

Barbara Ehrenreich expresses her utter distaste for television in The Worst Years of Our Lives based in the 1980’s. Ehrenreich writes numerous assertions in regard to television’s unrealistic portrayal of every day life. She raises a valid argument when she points out that TV watchers will never see the commonplace facets of human life depicted on their TV screen. Instead, they watch shows filled with fake people, plastic smiles, ungenuine conversations, and unrealistic tasks all combined into a program that epitomizes the way in which we don’t live. Television distracts people from actually living their lives so instead they live vicariously through TV shows, wasting their lives away.

Television has been used for decades to shape the human psyche. It has also played a major role in the development of American lives, and at times we fail to notice. “People are sheep. TV is the shepherd.” (Jess C. Scott, Literary Heroin (Gluttony): A Twilight Parody).

Television has played an integral role in the American home for so long that people wouldn’t know which direction to face their couches without it. For decades it has brought families together for a few hours of shared enjoyment at the end of the day, and given co-workers something to talk about at the water cooler to distract them from the dull tasks that lay ahead of them. TV has capitalized on this ability to distract its mass of viewers from their everyday lives. Content was never really the main purpose of television – its purpose was to produce shows that would attract the largest audiences, and to increase the amount of advertisements seen by a highly consumerist culture. In its attempt to appeal to the mainstream, it has, in a very

Over the last forty to fifty years, television has been a major topic of discussion. Specifically, many debate societal benefits to television watching. One widely accepted opinion is that watching TV makes people dumber. People have referred to it with terms like the “idiot box” and do not feel that watching TV has any benefit at all. They feel that it is a waste of time and people need to spend their hours more wisely. Others are of the opinion that TV is actually has societal benefits. From this perspective, they claim that the development of the structure of the programs now requires one to intellectually participate in watching television. Essentially, the argument is whether TV is a beneficial societal force or is it simply a