Tv Makes You Smarter Essay

I happen to be sympathetic to that argument, but it's not the one I want to make here. I think there is another way to assess the social virtue of pop culture, one that looks at media as a kind of cognitive workout, not as a series of life lessons. There may indeed be more ''negative messages'' in the mediasphere today. But that's not the only way to evaluate whether our television shows or video games are having a positive impact. Just as important -- if not more important -- is the kind of thinking you have to do to make sense of a cultural experience. That is where the Sleeper Curve becomes visible.

“Watching T.V. Makes You Smarter” by Steven Johnson is an idea that if we watch T.V, it will make us smarter. In order to support his idea, Steven is comparing the different television shows shown in different time period in the United States television history. Steven is trying to prove, what is good for our children and what is not. Steven believes that television is a tool of brain enhancement. Steven states that instead of keeping the kids away from violent shows or tawdry content, the real challenge for the parents should be whether a given show engages or sedates the mind.

The main reason we watch TV is for entertainment where we can view shows and movies. Shows and movies expose individuals to a variety of cultures and values that they do not see often. Another use of television is for information such as news, political views, and advertisements. Televisions inform us of news around our community and world, and also persuade us in buying products or donating money to a cause. An ongoing controversy has risen such tha televisions can be harmful to children because of the vulgar language and violence shown through modern day shows or even celebrities. Viewing too much television can be time consuming and may even discourage children to go play outside and be social. Watching the newscast has changed my life by informing me of the violence that goes on throughout my community. Also, a negative effect of watching too much television has taken up my time when I could have been doing more productive tasks.

In the article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter," Steven Johnson argues why and how television can make you smarter. In another article, “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box," Dana Stevens contradicts everything Steven Johnson said in his article about television making people more intelligent.

Although his article was published 32 years ago in 1985, it is still very relevant today. Technology has continued to improve over the past several decades and television is much more immediate than it was back then. Due to services such as Netflix and the internet, people can watch and download any episode of a television show they want. Due to this, educational shows such as “Sesame Street” are even more accessible to children than they were in the 1980s. I agree with Postman in that television shows such as “Sesame Street” do undermine a traditional idea of what schooling represents. As Postman states, “in a classroom, one may ask a teacher questions, one can ask nothing of a television screen” (1). When it comes to television, people do not have to put in much deep thought or have patience. Although if there ever is a misunderstanding of something discussed on a television show such as “Sesame Street”, a child is not able to ask the television to further explain a concept. A child can ask an educator to elaborate on a subject to allow the child to develop a firmer grasp on the topic. In this aspect, educational television offers mostly a quick and superficial way to “learn”. As a result of this, television acts mainly as a source of entertainment with Postman stating “’Sesame Street’ does not encourage children to love school or anything about

Television is the mainstream of our culture. Violence on television has been a topic of conflict since before 1950. There have been repeated debates on how to protect children from the harmful effects of violence on television. Television is one form of modern media that influences the everyday lives of people. Televised violence has a major effect on how children perceive the world and how they behave. "American television has become the most violent in the world. It is for this reason why researchers have focused their attention toward television violence" (Cantor & Hoffner 424-4-25). Children enjoy watching television and now with the increased technology of cable and movie

Children who watch television shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see, ( p.25). Children with emotional, behavioral, or learning problems may be more easily influenced by TV violence (Bandura, 1977). The impact of TV violence may be immediately evident in the child's behavior or may surface later, and young people can even be affected when the family atmosphere shows no tendency toward violence (Cantor & Wilson, 1984). Therefore, while TV violence is not the only cause of aggressive or violent behavior, it is clearly a significant factor. The Good in Television Not all television is bad. There are several excellent programs dedicated to young children. Some programs incorporate entertainment and education to help children learn and identify characters, shapes and colors. Programs such as Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street also help promote good behavior and cooperation. Dr. Ernest Boyer, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and former US Commissioner of Education, stated: "Television sparks curiosity and opens up distant worlds to children. Through its magic, youngsters can travel to the moon or the bottom of the sea. They can visit castles, take river trips, or explore imaginary lands. . .With selective viewing, television can richly contribute to school readiness." (Chen, p. 122) Unfortunately, most

In recent discussions of watching an excessive amount of television, a controversial issue has been whether it is good or bad. On the one hand, some argue that it affects our mental and physical health. From this perspective, it is clear that heavy TV watching is not beneficial. On the other hand, however, others argue that a TV exposes you to important news and different cultures. In the words of Caron Andre, one of this views main proponents; “news, current events and historical programming can help make young people more aware of other cultures and people.” According to this view, Andre believes that TV can be beneficial to the watchers. In sum, then, the issue is whether TV has positive or negative effects on the viewers.

Some people seem to think that social media, television for example, makes you smarter. That perspective is sadly mistaken. Not everything on television is trustworthy, although there are several big time shows that help children to learn their alphabets and numbers, sometimes Spanish too. There is so much out there that you can learn from social media, however it is not wise to trust everything you see on television because it all for show and entertainment. These reality shows are made with more lies and drama to catch attention and keep their views high. It could be true to a certain extent and you could learn about many different things but that does not make you smarter, it makes you informed about a situation. You still need to research and learn some real facts to consider yourself smarter about a situation.

Children will conclude that everything from politics, to religion, or news must be presented to them in an exaggerated and entertaining way. As said, children learn to only love television for the entertainment it provides and begin to find classrooms without edutainment to be a “stale and flat environment.” Giving students the amount of entertainment they want allows them to learn without having any prior knowledge, no challenges, and no exposition. These essential components for the learning process having been replaced by entertainment. Television has completely interfered with school curriculum, therefore transforming it. As educators and teachers began to promote programs such as Sesame Street or The Voyage of the Mimi, more and more of the curriculum being taught was changed to satisfy what children were taught to want in their classroom environments. Postman observed how, “Teachers, from primary grades through college, are increasing the visual simulation in their lessons; are reducing the amount of exposition their students must cope with; are relying less on reading and writing assignments; and are reluctantly concluding that the principal means by which student interest may be engaged is entertainment.” Through this information it is obvious that the standards to which students have to perform has been lowered, television being a contributing

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

In Steven Johnson’s “Watching TV Makes You Smarter”, he argues the growing complexities of contemporary TV shows through time. Johnson explains, because of the developing intricacy of TV plot lines people are having to spend more time paying attention to the TV episodes. To show this, Johnson compared shows from the past and more recent shows to display how on screen intelligence and off screen intelligence of shows have developed to become more challenging and realistic. I believe contemporary TV shows need to have complex plot lines that are continuously developing with each episode of the season to make a person smarter. Johnson does believe contemporary TV makes you smarter, but I also think he is missing

To begin with we will look at the issue of how modern TV can enlighten the audience. The author Stephen Johnson makes the argument of how TV is more complex, therefore it makes you smarter, in his article “Watching TV

It could very well be true that over the past 20 years, television programming has developed in such a way as to demand more cognitive participation. However, watching TV is not the societal benefit Johnson makes it out to be. Johnson’s claim that TV is overall a beneficial societal force fails to account for the indirect effects of watching TV. It may be true that the cognitive demands of watching an episode of 24 do in fact stimulate brain function as opposed to diminish it. However, when a person sits down in front of the TV, he is choosing to do so instead of reading, studying, doing his homework, or exercising. These things are undisputedly beneficial to society. When one spends his time in front of the TV screen, it is time he is taking away from actually getting smarter.

Television is a big part of today’s society. Everybody watches television, including the children. There is a potential problem with letting children watch television. Ask this question, would someone let their own child watch some of the programming that they watch, too? Some of these programs are intended for the adult generation, not young children. Violence has a major role in television these days. Letting children watch this violence could corrupt their minds and eventually lead to bad behavior. There needs to be a limitation on the types of television programming that parents let their children watch, because violence in television can negatively affect children.