Emma Judy – Special to the Southern News
The only activity that American part take more in during a 24 hour period then watching TV is sleeping. Because of that, it’s not hard to believe that TV has an impact on our lives. Whether it’s a negative or positive probably depends on the case or person, but there is definitely an impact.
Have you ever driven down a long curvy road and hoped silently to yourself that your car doesn’t break down because it eerily reminds you of the beginning of Criminal Minds episode? Or every time you make eye contact with an attractive member of the opposite sex at the food court you can’t help but wonder if this is your next significant other because every show has that one couple who met in a run of the mill way? We all have these thoughts because of shows we watch.
TV can have a way of changing the way we look at something too. Have you ever watched a show about a time period that you thought of as a time where things are simpler, like a HBO’s Mad Men? But then after watching a few episodes you realize that maybe everything you thought was true isn’t really all that true, that things weren’t necessarily simpler back then and sometimes that can the way we look at everything. All because a TV show shed new light on something.
Looking at things in new ways aren’t the only way that television can affect us. Have you ever thought about how many channels on TV are educational. There is Discovery, TLC and History to say the least. Those channels especially Discovery and history that are out there to teach us things that we wouldn’t necessarily learn in a classroom or for people who don’t like to read to learn about these things.
Television has a great impact on children because when kids are young their brains are like sponges. And they take in everything they see. Which is why most parents only let their kids what the shows on kid network. These shows try to teach lessons like sharing and how to be a good friend. As we get older and try to watch the shows we are shocked by how oblivious the message is. But the little 4 year old that sees Goofy share with Donald Duck isn’t going to watch and think it’s fun and also helps them learn important things.
Although I do believe that TV can affect our lives, I don’t think that is has a much of impact on us as people like to give it credit for. I don’t think a person is going to start taking drugs because their favorite character did it on TV. I think that for the most part people have a better ability to think for themselves then that. I will attempted that if someone mentally is prone to violence then they probably shouldn’t watch shows that have very violent storylines because it might trigger something.
Whether you prefer to watch prime time soap operas or murder mystery you do get emotionally attached to the characters and stories in a show. A lot of times we form a one sided relationship with them that characters. These one sided relationship when strong enough can affect our real lives. They become like our friends and we feel for them the way we feel for people in our real lives. That in my mind is the real effect that television has on us.
Photo Credit: Finnur Malmquist
