Television

Television has been called as the most convenient medium for getting either information or entertainment. People mostly find television beneficial for their life. However, there are some others who still believe that there are bad influences that television brings. In shorts, there has been a debate about whether televisions are advantageous or disadvantageous.

In this post, there is a list of opinions or arguments concerning the effects televisions bring to our lives. The arguments or opinions are separated between those which are in favor and those which are against televisions. I find these arguments or opinions beneficial for making students talk about the effects of television in a speaking class.

The arguments against are:

1. Television is a great time waster.
2. People have grown addicted to television, often neglecting the necessary and more important things like meals, sleep, and even work.
3. People who don’t watch television are happier than those who watch it. Television goes with the kind of life that leaves the viewer nothing to spare, nothing left.
4. Many parents use television as a pacifier for their children. They put their children in front of the TV set. They don’t care whether it exposes children to rubbish, and stupid commercials. They see spectacles of violence or sex as long as the children are quiet.
5. Television makes the viewer completely passive because everything is presented to them without any effort on their part.
6. Many of the television programs are bad. They do not keep pace with the high demand of viewers and do not maintain high quality standards.
7. The very danger of watching television lies in the fact that the viewer takes no initiative. They make no choice and exercise no judgment.
8. The wide coverage of television programs has reduced society to the conditions in illiterate communities. We are utterly dependent on the most primitive media of communication, pictures and spoken words.
9. Television passes on to children the corrupting values of a corrupt society.
10. What the viewer receives from television is nothing but secondhand experience.
    TV completely cuts the viewer off from the real world.
11. Television is to blame for the fact that children take longer to learn to read today and barely see the point at all of getting that skill.
12. The more the viewer watches television, the lazier they become. The TV glues them to the set instead of allowing them to go out.
13. Television takes up too much of our time. We no longer have enough time for hobbies, entertaining activities. Other outside amusements like theaters, movies, sports, etc get ignored.
14. Television prevents people from communicating with each other. It has done much harm to the relationship between family members.
15. Unfortunately all of our free time is now regulated by television.
16. People no longer see the need to read books when they can just watch it on television.
17. People rush home, gulp their food, which is often as simple as a sandwich and a beer, and then start watching the television.
18. Families sit and watch television at dinner instead of talking with each other.
19. The monster, i.e. television, demands absolute silence and attention. No one dares open his or her mouth during a television program.

Arguments in Favor

1. Television is now playing a very important role in our lives.
2. Television does the job of education in the broadest sense. Instructive programs achieve their goal through entertaining the viewers.
3. Television is not only a convenient source of entertainment, but also a comparative cheap one.
4. Television provides an outlet for creative talents.
5. Television keeps you informed about current events. It allows you to follow the latest developments in science and politics. It offers an endless series of programs that are both instructive and entertaining.
6. People all around the world are no longer distant and isolated from each other.  It brings most distant countries and the strangest customs right into your living room.
7. Many television programs introduce people to things they never thought of before and have never heard of before.
8. Compared with radio, everything on television is more lifelike, vivid, and real.
9. Television series have done a great job in popularizing many literary masterpieces.
10. Television may be a vital factor in holding a family together. Especially where there are economic problems that cause the husband and wife to be at a breaking point.
11. Television has been good company to those who do not work, like housewives, lonely old people, etc.
12. Television keeps people informed about the government and its programs.
13. With television people are still free to enjoy other “civilized pleasures”, or even more.
14. Television keeps people informed of the news and weather.
15. There are a considerable variety of programs on television. The viewer is always free to choose whatever he wants to see.
16. Television keeps people informed of disasters like floods, winds, etc.
17. Television provides enormous possibilities for education, like school programs via closed-circuit television.
18. In the case of serious problems television tells people what to do.
19. Television provides special broadcasts for those in a TV University, or Open University. It also offers specialized subjects like language teaching, sewing, cooking, painting, cosmetics, etc.
20. People can be taught about safety through television.
21. People can be informed about special sales at stores.