Let's Unplug Our TV Sets

Common sense seems to indicate that if we could unplug all the television sets in America our children would grow up to be healthier, better educated, and more independent human beings.

The children of today seem to think all their leisure activity should be connected to a television or some type of electronic device.  They play games, watch videos, eat meals, and talk on the telephone, all while sitting in front of a television set.  This type of behavior lends itself to poor social skills, obesity and I imagine it even stunts their natural creativity.

Many studies have found that in addition to the physical effects of watching too much television, there are also increased risks of psychological difficulties in their future.  It is my belief that our children would be more independent if not negatively influenced by all the aggressive and violent behavior the TV shows exhibit today.

Although I agree that the creation of cable television and most of the technological advances of this generation are important to the growth of our society, I don’t accept the fact that the benefits of watching more than a couple of hours of  television each day, outweigh the harm that too much TV watching has on our children.

While growing up in the sixties and seventies, there was never a concern about TV watching too much television because the TV actually went off at 11pm every evening, with the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner.”  There was never an option to stay up and watch TV all night.  Parents didn’t have to worry about parental controls because there was nothing on TV that wasn’t rated G or PG for all audiences.  Our parents also felt it was important to have meals together as a family at the dinner table. In other words, you weren’t allowed to eat a meal in front of the boob tube.  Since there were limited choices about what to watch on television, we found other ways to amuse ourselves.

All this said, TV has a place in society, however I feel unplugging all TV sets for at least 20 hours of every day would be beneficial to our entire society.