Wednesday, Dec 25 2024  

Television is bad for children - 7 Mar 2014

My topic for today is “Television is bad for children”. It is often said that books are good for children and TV is bad for children. But is this actually put into practice? The minute we come home, we look forward to watching our favourite TV programme. Some of us even watch TV, while having our lunch or dinner. Some of the children even have the so-called “privilege” to have their own television set in their bedrooms. In fact, our beloved Swami himself has said, “Television is Tele-Visham” which means, “Television is poison”.

Watching television means inactivity and inactivity has been linked with heart disease. In fact, researches have also proved that too much television can negatively affect brain development. It increases the chances of developing attention problems. One might argue that it’s alright to watch television for a short while, like an hour or two a day. But my dear friends, here are some questions to ponder; “Do we gladly switch off our TV after an hour or two? Do we think we can focus on our work after watching television?” The answer for both the above two questions is obviously a big “No”. We don’t wish to switch off our televisions after watching our favourite programmes. We wish to watch more. Many a times, we also feel extremely tired after watching television. We simply cannot go back to continuing our studies.

Nowadays, a lot more children are suffering from myopia. Just within Singapore, we have more than 34% of the population between the ages of 7-9 years old wearing spectacles. Everyday, we are already spending way too much of our time in front of our books and notes because of our education needs. We shouldn’t have to spend any more time in front of the television. Experts have constantly reminded us that we should spend as much time as possible being outdoors. So why not spend time going outdoors to play some sports instead of sitting in front of the television like a couch potato!

There is no doubt that TV can be educational. But unfortunately, one of the biggest unforeseen consequences of TV viewing is that it is reducing the important time between parents and children. We are missing out on valuable and even crucial interactions with our parents during our critical point of development.

In a nutshell, TV viewing numbs minds as it prevents us from using our imagination. It makes us overweight and exposes us to a lot of negative influences. It makes us believe that violence is the way to resolve conflict, as when you watch a hero beating up a bad guy to subdue him in a TV show. It decreases our attention span, makes us less focused, and the list goes on.

In conclusion, I would like to share a quote by a famous author Roald Dahl, whose books we all love to read.
“So, please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookcase in the wall.”

JAI SAI RAM

Bro Pranav
Group 2