Summary Of Plug-In Drug By Marie Winn

The television was a device that was thought to bring families closer. However, in recent years the idea can be debunked as an old wives tale. In Marie Winn's book the Plug-In Drug she addresses how television/electronics have actually driven families apart. This topic is specifically covered in her chapter “Family Life”. Winn makes observations which open our eyes to what electronics can actually do to families. Electronics have perverted the idea of family and how they interact with one another. Whether this be from spending legitimate time together or solving issues that reside within the family. Winn goes on to make claims about how electronics have negatively affected many families in today's world. Many of the claims she mentions are …show more content…
Winn goes on to claim, “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”. In my immediate family arguments are a common thing, even on things that can be easily solved. As her claim states now when an argument arises a few words are said then they all go to their own places of solitude to watch television or use other devices they have access to. I would like to think we were not a television centered family when I was younger, however in today's world we are. It is a pain in the neck to see my cousins on their devices constantly I do not want to seem innocent either because I do this as well. When I decide to read, listen to music or go on a walk with my dog I contemplate on how we all use our time. I always come back to the same thing we waste our time in worlds that are fictional to help us cope with our problems rather than face them. I have a saying I picked up and it goes ,“I don't invite life’s challenges but I don't back down from them either.” Entering the time as to where I am making the transition from teenager to adult I try to be observant of others. Most can not handle life's challenges but there are the few who can get right back up after life punches them. These are the type of people who will remain …show more content…
“In its effect on family relationships, in its facilitation of parental withdrawal from an active role in the socialization of their children, and in its replacement of family rituals and special events, television has played an important role in the disintegration of the American family. Which would cause me to agree with the her claim because this is a very real dilemma. Everyone wants to do their own thing and no one really hangs out together unless they need something. Its sad to see the idea of family bonding being so altered by something that apparently was supposed to bring us even closer. Television/ Electronics actually drives a wedge into families that separates them from what I have seen. However in different countries it can be viewed in a different way. On the times I have traveled to Mexico to visit family I have noticed a significant drop in electronics usage and a significant jump in actual communication. It was nice for that change when I took trips down there with family because it was out of the norm. In Mexico I shared interesting conversations with cousins, aunts, uncles, and their families. We shared many laughs and stories of how each other lives and how we have been over the past seventeen years. No matter what I did over there I felt the sense of family and true kinship. When we would