Preview

Negative Effects of Tv on Family Life

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1140 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Negative Effects of Tv on Family Life
Negative Effects of TV
The television has many effects on family life and the individual, causing family bonds to unravel and the individual to become naïve of their surroundings. The TV keeps one hooked for hours on end, causing family relationships to diminish and personal relationships to weaken. Not only does the TV seem to be a good alternative to conversations and interactions amongst one another, but it also helps to create a gap between the fictional world of TV and reality.
Since the invention of the home television, it has become a crucial part in everyday household life. Children spend less time with family, because it is simply easier to sit down and be entertained by the TV. ”The time spent next to it [the TV] exceeds the amount of time spent together with any other family member.” (Wattermann) Watching TV has a major effect on the way a child communicates with other family members and friends, distancing them from real-world situations and problems. Parents spend long hours working and want an effective suppressant for their children. “Contemporary parents work a lot, but when they come back home they are not eager to spend time with their child…” (Wattermann) Even adults fall into the attraction of taking themselves out of their childs’ life, in order to relax or gain the free time they long desire. The effect the TV has on the family has been negative in comparison to the original intention of bringing the TV into the home, back in the 1940s. The depiction of the family watching TV together has changed, and now with multiply TVs present in a home, the separation and disfunction of the family has increased.
TV also has a negative effect on the individual, because it takes away from potential relationships and also promotes bad behavior and aggressions as seen on violent television shows. What is being watched on television has the potential to influencing negative behavior, within the child or even adult. In an article from the AAP or the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    We now have the power to communicate with families by text, phone call, or video chat. However, can you really express your feeling face-to-face or be physically there. For example, in Winn,”The Plug-On-Drugs" she say, "But more obviously damaging to family relationships is the elimination of opportunities to talk and converse, or to argue, to air grievances between parents and children and brothers and sisters. Families frequently use television to avoid confronting their problems, problems that will not go away if they are ignored but will only fester and become less easily resolvable as time goes on." This claim is arguable because television viewing may lead to less interaction with their children, and can cost the lost of never knowing feelings and issues important to one’s child. The problem with television is that “the television experience is instrumental in preventing viewers from recognizing its dulling effects, much as a mind-altering drug might do.” A parent must not be oblivious and must be aware of the impact television has on one’s child. He must be ready to take immediate actions such as ensuring family bonding and game times, and talking while eating around the kitchen table to prevent the loss of family identity. If a parent can recognize the ill-effects of television and takes action to stop the harm being done, family life will greatly…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Just like the teacher from earlier, being one who was affected by the over-indulgence of T.V., she is not the only one. Winn concludes, that the effects of the television has harmed family relationships by eliminating opportunities for conversation, and other interactions. Whether it be conversing over daily activities, or arguing about internal issues, these opportunities have diminished because of television being the distraction. Winn used a mother as a reference because the mother’s solution to her kids fighting was to turn on the T.V., and ignore the issue. Another thing that was noted when it comes to children and television, is the loss of real life experiences. Children who watch too much television become so attached to the T.V. personality, and lose the ability to respond to real people because of the lack of interest. Winn’s use of logos in parts of her argument are used effectively to put actual reason behind how television is causing a lack of…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Television not only affects the family dynamics; it also distorts how we communicate with real people. A child who watches hours of television a day will likely have a difficult time making eye contact, maintaining conversations, and even trusting people. It will be harder for that child to resolve disputes with others because of their lack of experience with people. Similarly, parents will use television as a diversion from disputes, whether it’s with their children…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The television was first introduced in America in the late 1940’s. As it was introduced Americans purchased televisions as a record rate, in fact more quickly then they had purchased any other home entertainment machine. In a book written by Lynn Spigle stated “Between 1948 and 1955, television was installed in nearly two-thirds of the nation’s homes and the basic mechanism of the network oligopoly was set n motion” (pg. 1) and “by 1960 almost 90 percent of American household had at least one receiver”(pg. 1) As television became a new sort of gathering place it had positive and negative effect in families. One of the positive effects is that the television in many ways made the poorest of families rich in term of their access to entertainment and news. TV has also made childbearing less burdensome since TV can be a great babysitter and time filler. On the other as wealth of a person increases, so does the number of television found in a house making it hard for a family to interact with each other since each member would just retreat to their own personal space making this a negative effect.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tv Essay

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Ellen Goodman explains how TV affects families in a negative way by using harsh words to emphasize that TV destroys families. She explains through “Primal Screen” that the fact people watch TV is an “addiction” and “the average kid develops that distant, slack-jawed, hypnotic, hooked stare…” (Goodman, 25-26). This explains how kids take TV too seriously in life and take it as a major priority in life. Also, they young kids would create a very bad addiction out of it. Kids in school might not do well because all they think about is TV and get distracted. Another example would be when Goodman states that families have “become an audience and not a family,” (Goodman, 28)”. This means that families sit around a TV and communicate rarely if possible. Families just sit around and ignore each other when the traditional belief of TV is to have family time.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Tv as a Shaper

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages

    I agree that television shows influences our behaviors even without our knowledge of it. Although television seems like a great thing to have, it has many drawbacks. Television can have negative impacts on people, especially kids. People learn new skills by observing, then utilizing it, such as when we were kids and learn to walk by seeing our family walking around or learning a new subject in school. Therefore, when watching television it may influence our fundamental social dispositions; no matter if it is good or bad. Almost ninety nice percent of households possess one television. Television is today’s source of news, stories, legends, and characters from previous centuries; the reason why it is so influential. However, only “0.7 percent is used for public service announcements and news”(Sex, violence, profanity...). The other 97.3 % consists of television shows with violence, crime, advertisements and mainstream blandness. Many studies and research has been done to demonstrate that heavy television viewing may lead to serious health consequences. Television is great for entertainment but has grown into a major problem.…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The beliefs of television have powerful influences on the United States’ culture. It is used as a purpose for entertaining oneself or passing time for most American adults and children. Some people use television as a media source to know what is happening in the local area and around the world. A major belief for many Americans is that television is the main object in the typical American home. We all face our furniture towards the television and act like it is a shrine by placing expensive things around it. We believe that bigger is better and this all reflects in our social class. We spend many hours per week in front of it gazing at it and listening to its content. For most people it is addictive and distractive, yet most homes have at least one television.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Televisions have only been around since their debut in the middle of the 20th century and have since become a huge part of everyday life here in America. Originally having good intentions, the television and watching of television in the last couple of decades has changed greatly. The amount of time people spend watching their televisions has also changed in the sense that people spend much more time in front of the television than they used to. Some argue that television has had a huge negative effect on American families. In her essay, “Television: The Plug-In-Drug,” Marie Winn explores the ways in which television has lowered the quality of family life, rituals, and values. She recognizes that there is a problem with our society and the way in which it is consistently influenced by television. She shows this when she says, “Television’s contribution to family life has been an equivocal one,” (Winn 353). Winn is true in saying this because television has caused children across America to have undeveloped intelligence, creativity, and imagination. TV is also detrimental to family life, family relationships, and outside relationships as well.…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lastly children that are exposed too much TV can show risky behaviors not appropriate for children. You may think a show is not bad but something simple as a child seeing someone smoking can provoke thoughts in the child’s head. Some TV shows and cartoons also promote racial stereotypes. All this can affect the child when they go out in the real world and how they treat others.…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first essay was written to focus on negative criticism on television, “Television: The Plug-In Drug” by Marie Winn, was about the influence of television on family life and parent-child relationships. Author of children’s books, Marie Winn sees only a negative outcome with television and family. I did not like her article because I think that it’s good to watch TV. You are informed about your surroundings, you learn a lot of things and it doesn’t change family relationships. Winn says that “Home and family has changed in important ways since the advent of television”. I think that family life has changed only because instead of always running trying to do something and staying busy, television gives families a reason to stop and sit in their own silence to relax. Winn’s main point was that television takes away from the quality time spent with families. I feel that quality time that isn’t spent with families is the family member’s faults. Parents should make time for their kids, even if they are watching TV. In the essay Winn states that families do “special” things together “go camping, go to the zoo…take trips and…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the past, TV was thought to be a way to bring the family together. However, today, more than three quarters of American families own two or more televisions. Having multiple sets causes family members to watch different programs, in separate rooms, pulling the family apart as opposed to bringing them together. Even some children have TV sets in their rooms. Instead of playing outside, kids are spending hour in front of the television (Winn 465-66)…

    • 1150 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Plug in Drug

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Marie Winn the author of “Televising: The Plug-in Drug”, is expressing the affects that television has on children. Television today is part of a family’s everyday life. The affects that television has on families are the change of family life and family rituals. The harms that television has on families are activities such as lose of family games, singing, joking, coloring, conversations, festivals, and arguments. Instead of talking about problems in the household, family members are more likely to go and watch TV. Instead of conversing and solving problems this tends to distract them and forget about them at that time. Children are affected the most by television because the lose of family activities; this is where the children’s learning takes place and where they form the personality, but in not having this the child is more likely to have difficulties in having conversations with people and poor eye contact when talking. Another lose that parents have with there children is the interaction; the alienation and desertion of their children. Television is taking away from human development and is increasing with less family time.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The University of Michigan Health System expansive website shows that the negative effects of television do not stop at education. The website reports that children who watch TV are liable to have elevated cholesterol, problems sleeping, weight issues, and are more likely to…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The strongest point made by Marie Winn in her essay is that the relationship between family members has been greatly affected by the television. Emphasizing the importance of eye to eye contact and active listening is achieved through multiple testimonies, including one by Bruno Bettelheim who suggested, “Children who have been taught, or conditioned to listen passively most of the day…are often unable to respond to real persons because they arouse so much less feeling…” Television encourages children to simply stare at the screen while a program runs, and the only instance close to a human-like situation is when an actor stares directly into the camera and breaks the fourth wall. This addiction also eliminates the opportunity for families to talk, converse, and argue, as well as confront problems. Winn uses a testimony from a mother, who says, “I find myself, with three children, wanting to turn on the TV set when they’re fighting.”, to emphasize her point of relationships between family members being diminished because of the television. Winn’s use of multiple sources and her logical look at human nature helps her argument be strongly delivered.…

    • 600 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Urie Bronfenbrenner

    • 20396 Words
    • 82 Pages

    Dorr, A. (1981, August). Television 's role in family life.Paper presented at the meetings of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles.…

    • 20396 Words
    • 82 Pages
    Powerful Essays