Harmful Effects of TV

[Jamman]

Hey all who read this.

I am writing an synthesis essay for class and I'm trying to write why TV is harmful to American society.

My main points:

1. People who watch graphic TV are usually influenced with negative or resembling behavior.
  (ex. recent Michigan University health study shows teens who watch sexual activity on TV are 10 times more likely to engage is such activities.)

2. People who are more susceptible  to create a fantasy world and hide while watching TV (Idk about this one, my partner thought it could work, but i cant think of any support).

3. The majority of TV viewers waste a noticeable portion of their lives.
   (ex. average TV viewer wastes 9 years of their life watching TV)

I'm supposed to show both sides of the argument in a way like, with number 3, I could say that, there are 2 categories of TV viewers, passive, those who sit and watch pictures go by without thinking about it. Then interpretive viewers, those who form an opinion on what they see. Im not sure if that would count as "showing both sides".


I was trying to find literature that had to do with harmful effects of TV, hopefully not just a broad study, but maybe a biography or a personal experience. I'm not sure, but if you would like to share and give me some ideas I'd really appreciate them. The grade scale is a 0-9. My highest being a 7, and what I'm missing are specific examples to support my points and engaging my audience.

If anyone knows anything about writing synthesis essays, I'd like to hear any tips you would have to offer.

Thank you.

[Unit 33]

Well I've certainly spent a large portion of my spare time in front of the television and I haven't noticed any ill effect,
but I can easily imagine that the mentally insecure and unstable would be dramatically affected by it.

[{TcF}Dr.Penguin]

Spending money on cable is a harmful side effect maybe?

[BlackScorpion]

I'll play Devil's Advocate.  Don't know a whole ton about Psychology, but I was actually reading this yesterday!  My textbook has references to studies--if you want the details, I'll try to find them and link them.

1. People who watch graphic TV are usually influenced with negative or resembling behavior.
  (ex. recent Michigan University health study shows teens who watch sexual activity on TV are 10 times more likely to engage is such activities.)

And the people who watch peaceful television?  People are influenced by television, sure.  But if one sees the Zapuder *film* (JFK getting shot) and then go out and decide to kill his or her neighbor?  Perhaps that person is the type of person who is so mentally unstable that anything else could have set him or her off.  So this "undue" influence of TV on these people could be replaced by something else, such as peers or society as a whole (see, e.g., the concept of modeling).

Also, these studies are often misnomers.  Was the sample size representative?  If I recall correctly, you need like 1,000 - 1,500 people for an accurate study to be applied to the US population as a whole.  Also, cum hoc ergo propter hoc--correlation does not imply causation.  Maybe these people are more likely to trust the words of some reality TV star (lol), and it's not TV as a whole (a third factor--not that there can also be a fourth, fifth, factor, and so on).

(NOTE: Showing people on TV getting punished isn't an effective deterrent because young people won't know what is going on.)

2. People who are more susceptible  to create a fantasy world and hide while watching TV (Idk about this one, my partner thought it could work, but i cant think of any support).

I'm not following this one.  But I've touched on it somewhat above (in re Zappuder--I might be able to find a better counterexample, if you want).

3. The majority of TV viewers waste a noticeable portion of their lives.
   (ex. average TV viewer wastes 9 years of their life watching TV)

I'm supposed to show both sides of the argument in a way like, with number 3, I could say that, there are 2 categories of TV viewers, passive, those who sit and watch pictures go by without thinking about it. Then interpretive viewers, those who form an opinion on what they see. Im not sure if that would count as "showing both sides".

Take it a step further: watching TV does not necessarily need to be sedentary and unproductive--many people go to the gym and do cardio (lol, treadmills) while watching [television program] and do work while watching television.  Also, what kind of TV?  The news?  SportsCenter?  Jersey Shore?  Not all TV is worth the same. 

Spending money on cable is a harmful side effect maybe?

John Maynard Keynes would beg to differ.

[Unit 33]

I agree it's entirely objective.

Personally I have learnt a great deal from television, I a sense it all depends what channel you are on.

Also violence has stuck in our culture of story telling far before television, from literature, to plays and poetry.
Think about Shakespeare! Those plays are frightfully bloody! And they're considered cultural icons!

[Joseph]

Personally I have learnt a great deal from television, I a sense it all depends what channel you are on.

I would be delighted to know which channels you find to be wholesome.

[Phobos]

TV is bad if you watch too much.

[Unit 33]

I would be delighted to know which channels you find to be wholesome.

BBC 1-2-3-4

[Syyy]

Well, TV is a media like theater, cinema, or newspapers are. You can send message to people and / or denounce what is wrong. When an epidemy come to earth, the first way to alert people is TV, for example.

[Joseph]

BBC 1-2-3-4

OK, you got me lol. Actually just last night I was watching Sherlock and thinking about how much I love BBC.