“TV will never be a serious competitor for radio because people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn’t time for it.” – Author Unknown, from New York Times, 1939
Life is meant to be lived, not watched. To get started living your own life rather than watching others live theirs, consider its impact on your life.
Ten Reasons to Watch Less Television
1. It is influencing your worldview. Anybody who has ever been a policeman, a lawyer, a psychiatrist, an ER doctor, or an FBI agent will attest to the truth that television does not accurately portray their life. In almost all aspects, television rarely depicts the world and life accurately. Too much television results in disillusionment about what to expect from the world around us. This can most commonly be seen in people’s expectations of love, romance, and sexuality.
2. It is influencing your spending habits. If you think you are immune (or too smart) to be influenced by the power of advertisements, you are wrong. Corporations do not spend trillions of dollars in advertising hoping to influence you. They spend trillions of dollars because they know they will influence you.
3. It is taking you away from the real people all around you. The characters on television are not real. They are thought up in an office building and given life on a piece of paper. In contrast, you are surrounded every day by real people living real lives. These real people are facing real problems. They need you. And you need them. Limit your kids’ screen time.
4. It is robbing you of precious mental energy. When your television is on, your concentration is held hostage. Your mental energy is drawn into the screen and your ability to control it is given up.
5. It is costing you money. Americans spend over $6 billion per year just paying for the electricity to power their television sets. Add in the cost of cable/satellite bills, dvd’s, movie subscriptions, peripherals … and we’re starting to talk about real money.
6. It impairs your capacity for rational thought. TV oversimplifies reality. It presents subjects in a matter of minutes and everything is nicely wrapped up at the end. This harms clear thinking by conditioning you to expect that most problems have a simple, clear solution that can be implemented in 60 minutes or less.
7. It is bad for your health. Numerous studies draw direct parallels between excessive television watching and obesity.
8. It results in less satisfaction with life. According to the Journal of Economic Psychology, TV viewers report lower life satisfaction, higher material aspirations, and more anxiety.
9. It results in less sex. Couples who keep a TV in the bedroom have sex half as often as those who don’t. And if you ask me, that should be reason enough.
10. Its opportunity cost is too great. The average American watched an average of 5.1 hours of television per day in 2009. That’s time you could have spent exercising, eating a meal together, entertaining, enjoying nature, meditating, enjoying a hobby, reading a book, or fulfilling a dream.
About Joshua Becker
I have been a widow since 2017 and though you are correct that watching TV too much is affecting my weight, the characters keep my (and my cat) company and they can’t hurt me or try to take advantage of me like other people. Sometimes people enjoy being solitary without being involved in all of the drama of other people’s lives. You make some good points but there are some who just prefer the people on TV that we can turn off when we get tired of listening to them.
Most of christians homes do not have time to read bibles and prayer,they no longer have enough time for God because of tv,even most of the families are not peacefull and there are family conflicts,children are also rebellious because catoons,and even it corrupts people’s minds and hearts with sinfull desires,so christians who watch all devilish films and have naked images their minds are marked with evil.
In his Road to Hell album, was not Chris Rea right to tell TV producers that “they must be evil”?
Excessive television is bad for your health. There is evidence suggesting that frequent amounts of television viewing can cause negative effects on a person’s behavior, health, and intelligence. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests children under two years of age should view zero television and that those older than two watch no more than 1-2 hours a day of valuable programming. It is a proven fact that the first two years of life in a child are some of the most critical in brain development. Watching television could never improve a toddler’s brain, it will only hurt it. It has been proven that watching extended periods of television changes the anatomical structure of a child’s brain and lowers verbal activities (Fields). The average American is more likely to die if they view frequent television. Research by the Journal of the American Heart Association found that participants who reported watching three hours or more of television per day had twice the risk of dying during the 8-year follow-up period than those who said they did not watch more than 1 hour per day (Schroeder, Michael O.). Children are also more likely to commit violence when viewing television. When a child views violent acts they are more likely to display aggressive behavior towards others. This applies to teens as well when they are playing video games. The characters on television and in video games commonly display hazardous behaviors like drinking and smoking.In conclusion with proven evidence the public does indeed have information on how watching too much television can affect you in negative ways.
Have you guys read Charles Kennys article??
No, but considering that some will not follow up the information – can you give a few pointers?
With all the Movies and programme we have watched in time past what have it added to us?
Rather it pollute our minds and take us far from our belief sytsem; one of the strategies used to demoralise the american is via the media especially movie/entertainment.
Save yourself! Save the children! Save the coming GENERATION.
good idea.
Tv is good for you tbh
it is so not good for you. it is bad for you. I rarely watch tv. although we go on the computer a lot, it’s for work. hardly ever for games. the tv is hardly on. and playing on phones is almost as bad as watching tv. phones should only be for texting and calling people. not playing games. that’s what phones are for.
Tv is such like phones!
Also its better to watch movies and tv shows from the internet from sites like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Instant Video or other companies rather than have cable or satellite television because you would spend less money and wouldn’t have to spend your time watching annoying adds
I have not watched tv in my home since 2003 when I was the ripe age of 22.
Now at age 36 I have a VERY hard time ‘fitting in’ or even relating to most people. I have found their obsession with tv has literally made them delusional.
They do not live in reality, most are depressed, damn near all are fat and when they speak about tv/sports etc I feel like I am losing brain cells.
When I am forced to see a tv, say at the gym, I am boggled as to how mind numbingly stupid it is.
Every aspect of it is aimed at the lowest common denominator, it is literally junk food for the brain.
The problem most people are so empty, so dull because they have been numbed with artificial ‘entertainment’ since they were children.
It’s sad, pathetic and absolutely mind boggling to someone like me.
Americans come across as brainwashed/brain dead tv obsessed morons.
Period.
We grew up with one television and 7 people.
So we choose one program to watch together and that’s was it.
Television was never important
30 years later I having an American partner and 2 kids. It’s unbelievable and totally against my values of life
But that freaking television is every day On!!!! And he is even letting the kids of 3 years old watch television
It’s terrible, and he just doesn’t understand why I don’t want the kids watch television
so we are still trying to find a middle way
But the best thing is just to brake the television lol
I seriously see the television as the devil
good
Put his Tv in another area and have the kids doing things elsewhere. Good for you. I limit the time it is on and what is watched but kids do better without it. If it wasnt for the husband we would have no cable. Waste of time and totally not good things on there. I rarely watch TV ever.
Yes, nailed it!! I haven’t watched news or political shows in over 20 years starting when I was 19 and limit my show other fictional show watching to not even be a daily thing (WITHOUT commercials too! *cringe*). I cannot relate to anyone either! I have no idea the names of the characters on their screens that they’re taking about and taking direct orders from in real life by being told what to think about, how to feel about it and how to behave about it. They’re just scripted shows. WTF? There’s so few of us in 2020. Where did we all go?? Unwash your brains people. Good grief!
very good article.
I believe that I should try to minimize the use of things which creates the fiction around me and is far different from the reality in the real world.
Some things are bad and need to stop immediately while some can be used with the conscious efforts.
I have removed below things from my life:
1) Watching TV – All are fiction, very less content, lot of advertisement
2) Facebook – Agreed here we can meet the people across the region but I found only pretended people, not the real one.
Below things I am trying to have control over rather than just stop watching:
1) Youtube: Rather than youtube recommending me, I want to have the self-power to search for the things I want to do for myself. Else youtube will also become the TV for the next generation.
I am not stopping to watch it completely because there are good educational videos uploaded there.
2) Movies : One should distinguish between the movie that teaches against the one that creates false images of the society or people.
Things that I am trying to quit:
1) Porn Videos: This has a more intense effect on our brain and should be immediately stopped. Still many people consider it as a soft addiction, that’s why still 1/4th of all the internet search is about the “Porn”
I use Facebook. Once or twice a week for no more than ten minutes at a time. I only post something thought-provoking or unusually funny, if anything.
A good safety rule is never friend someone on Facebook you don’t know offline already. My friends number around 100–from time to time I weed out those I’m not close to. Limit groups followed to 3 tops.
I fell the same way.
Jence
Very good reasons as to why we should less of TV..
but technically we cant blame the TV,we need to blame ourselves..
it is “we” who misuse it..
the TV was invented for good purposes but we use it with wrong intentions.
My TV ate my dog and then shot the neighbors kid. Then it joined ISIS and became a lesbian. In a few years, it will probably run for Congress and win…. and it can display all its attack ads on its belly. My TV is a better person than you
I remember as a young boy, me mom saying TV was evil.
We never watched it during dinner, and I couldn’t watch it til I
finished my homerwork.
Anyway in those days all the kids would play outside til dark.
When I did watch TV the programs were pretty OK.
Mission Impossible, All in the Family, Happy Days, The Berverly Hillbillies and Kolchak the night Stalker. etc, etc.
Now-a-days I don’t know whats on but most of it is very shallow
and junk, are the producers doing an internship or what.
There are a lot more refreshing ways to use your brain than sitting
in front of a TV, read a book or talk to a friend or learn a 2nd language or a new hobby.
Anyway don’t let the net works try to fool you or school you.
Once they dumb you down there’s no coming back.
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Crap. This is the 21st Century. And trust me, people only watch TV when they have nothing else lined up. Once you are up to something, you cannot have time for the TV. So, it is more or less like all other pass-times. And talking about Obesity, you really don’t me to keep exercising all day long without rest at ALL,do you?
I’ve never read a book and had an advertisement pop up. TV is the path of least resistance for your brain. It makes you dumb beyond all hope and if our society collectively watches it, we won’t notice the dumbing effect.
Great post.
There was a time long, long ago when television was worth watching. But over the last 30 years or so the quality of network television began suffering to the point of no return, where it is completely unwatchable nowadays.
The early days of cable television took up the slack where network TV went sour. Sadly the once proud cable networks began to fester. The garbage “reality” TV format became a mainstay destroying every cable network.
The only “TV” I watch on a limited basis is YouTube on my computer monitor. There I’ll catch a good classic movie from yesteryear, watch some great science lectures ( Dawkins and Hawking are my favorites) or I’ll make time to watch a few video tutorials to improve my classical guitar playing.????
this website is okay not good but ok. :)
I don’t have TV since last summer, from the first month of it. I don’t like TV. I paid for Smart-TV a lot of money just to use it, because I paid for it. Actually I never liked TV and I bought it just to have Netflix and YouTube on it. On time I noticed I can do the same on laptop – so why TV. Programs on TV are programming you and a lot of ads to buy more. Never worked for me. Never gonna visit mall.
I opted out of TV. I save on electricity bill, I save tons on Internet bill, as I don’t need internet anymore for Full HD streaming. I can watch YouTube on my laptop in decent SD quality with my 1 Mbps Internet which costs me 10 € only, mobile 3G, unlimited. My previous stable internet were 40 € and costed that for 100 Mbps. Speed I don’t need at all as I live alone. I share internet from my smartphone.
Since I don’t have this stupid black box for a year soon – I am out more, I do homeworks better. I eat less junk or fast food. I also opted out of Netflix, the amount of movies here is limited and almost all are B or C movies. Series are not full and after all I don’t want to watch someone else life, I want to live my own. I hate TV.
Let me say. I hate TV. When I come to my parents. They ask me often. But when I come, they don’t pay any attention. One is sitting on TV at kitchen watching program X and another sitting in living room watching program Y. They sit and watch, not even talking with themselves lot. So how they suppose to talk to me? I don’t feel comfortable to talk with people when there is 2 tv’s talking louder than me. And then they argue that I use my smartphone at them – when they actually are in the front of TV. I don’t understand that. If you are watching TV, I can listen music from my phone. And yes, TV is destroyer. Get rid of it, throw it from balcony. Have nothing to do with this stupid black box. AMEN.
Joshua has a B.S. in computer science from Stanford University and is
fluent in Kiswahili.
The thing is, TV turns children into vegative, lethargic slobs with no imagination or patience for anything. They grow up to be boring, mentally slow adults commonly referred to as losers, who have no hobbies. TV in the background hinders child development, performance in School and perception of reality. Instead of TV we read books, go for country walks, go swimming, do arts and crafts every weekend, socialise. The children play with their pets and have their friends round. In winter we play board games and card games as a family and we all eat dinner together every night but we don’t eat in bored, forced stony silence, we all look forward to it because we always have a laugh and talk about how our days have been and offer support and encouragement to each other. Anyone can have this kind of happiness if you just get rid of the TV and live life instead of watching other people living life.