What Are the Disadvantages of Watching Television?
1. Sex, crime, and violence are frequently depicted on television and may have negative
effects on impressionable children (and adults!). Kids who see violent acts are more likely
to display aggressive or violent behavior and also to believe that the world is a scary place
and that something bad is going happen to them. Ongoing studies have shown a lasting
correlation between watching violence on television and aggression that begins in
childhood and continues into adulthood. Viewers sometimes imitate violent, criminal,
sexual, or other risky behavior they see on television... and end up in trouble, in jail, or in a
hospital as a result.
2. Watching too much television is not good for your health. Studies have shown that there is
a correlation between watching television and obesity. Excessive TV watching (more than
3 hours a day) can also contribute to sleep difficulties, behavior problems, lower grades,
and other health issues.
3. Television makes us antisocial, taking the place of family and friends.
4. It's a waste of time. Watching television fills the time a person might have spent doing
important, enriching things like interacting socially with other human beings, being
physically active, discovering the outdoors, reading, using one's own imagination, or
accomplishing other things like working or doing homework or chores, or spending time
with enriching hobbies like art, music, etc.
5. There's nothing good on, anyway. With hundreds of channels available, viewers can spend
hours just flipping channels trying to find something worthwhile.
6. Some people take television too seriously. One study published in the Journal of Social
and Personal Relationships showed that viewers experienced the same negative reactions
to the loss of an imaginary friendship with a character on television as they did when their
real social relationships ended. So while television might make you feel like you have a
friend, it comes with its own emotional risk and negative emotional baggage.
7. Television often uses stereotypes that can warp the watcher's perception of the world.
Characters often participate in risky, violent, or unwise behaviors and also reinforce rigid
gender roles and racial stereotypes. It can also portray idealized lives and body types that
negatively impact viewers' self esteem.
8. Television's hidden agenda is consumerism: Advertisers often target kids and on average,
children (those who are less capable of discerning a hidden agenda) see about 40,000 ads
per year on television alone, including ads for unhealthy snack foods and alcohol.
Television's ulterior motive is to get us to buy, buy, buy, at any cost, even though in 2014,
at least 35% of Americans reported being in debt to a collection agency.
9. It's shallow, and it will make you shallow, too. Most news programs only skim the surface of
issues, and often offer a skewed or biased view of events. Programs are usually too short
and too often interrupted by advertisements to delve very deeply into a topic. Instead of
rich dialogues we get empty soundbites, slogans, and one-liners. Most reality shows depict
deplorable characters doing silly, useless things.
10. Television can ruin your relationships. If you are watching television instead of
communicating with your loved one, this is a problem. If you're so wrapped up in your
program that you start ignoring or spending less time with the ones you love, then
television is a problem.
11. Television might be addictive. For those who watch a lot, it's very hard to quit, so it is
similar to a dependency like alcoholism or any another addiction. Recent studies have
found that up to 12% percent of TV-watchers feel unhappy about the amount of TV they
watch, consider themselves addicts, yet feel incapable of stopping themselves
What are the Advantages of Watching Television?
1. In this busy, expensive life, television is an easy and cheap source of entertainment.
2. By watching international news, we are kept informed and up-to-date with breaking news
around the world.
3. Some shows and channels (like PBS and Discovery) offer educational programs that can
increase our knowledge and make us more aware of the world around us.
4. Do-it-yourself shows give us easy access to all kinds of information: Cooking channels
offer new recipes and methods, home improvement shows introduce us to many money-
saving DIY tips, and financial advisers give advice for managing finances and investing
money, for example. Television can also be a good way to help people learn a different
language.
5. Some shows can motivate people who are interested in that field and help them to pursue
their dreams.
6. Television can help you feel less lonely. Psychologists coined the term "social surrogacy"
to explain how television can fill the shoes of absent friends or family. In one study
published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, researchers found that people
who watch a favorite TV show report feeling less lonely during the show.
7. TV can expand your mind. Some shows let you travel vicariously and teach you about
different people, cultures, ideas, and places you might never encounter in real life.
Watching a variety of shows might give us a broader understanding of the world we live in
and expose us to things we might otherwise never come across in our own lives.
8. TV can make you feel like part of a group and let you participate in a shared subculture. In
social situations where you may find yourself surrounded by strangers with whom you have
nothing in common, a popular show or televised sporting event might give you something
to talk about.
9. Gathering around the television gives families, friends, and strangers something to bond
over. Even if you're not interested in the Olympics, watching the games with your family
might bring you closer together; reminiscing about shows you've watched together gives
you shared history and memories.
10. There may be certain health benefits to watching television. If a certain show makes you
laugh, for example, then an argument can be made for its mood-elevating merits. While
exercising, television can distract you from what you're doing and therefore enable you to
last longer on the treadmill (there's a good reason why so many gyms have televisions,
after all!). One study from the University of Rochester found that people felt more energetic
after watching nature scenes.
11. Television might be a free, easy source of sexual education. In a study from UC Santa
Barbara, young girls who watched an episode of a nighttime soap opera that showed a
character dealing with an unintended pregnancy reported being more likely to practice safe
sex.
Is watching TV good or bad for your brain?
of Watching Television