America Free of TV

If we could unplug all the tv's and electronic devices in America, I believe that our children would be healthier, better educated, and more independant. Children today don't get enough exercise, are slipping academically, and are showing less and less self motivation.  

            Firstly, the lack of television would potentially increase physical activity among children. On average, kids today spend at least three hours a day watching tv, and seldom get any kind of exercise. Ever since tv became main stream kids have spent less and less time outside. It used to be common for kids all around the neighbor hood to get together and play a game of baseball, basket ball, or football. However, now kids get together for video game parties where they spend hours upon hours sitting in front of a tv. This prolonged exposure to video games can be damaging to a child's eye sight and prevents the child from being physically active. Childhood obesity has become a major problem in America and I don't think it's mear coincidence that kids are watching more and more tv these days.

            Secondly, grades of American children are slipping and falling behind compared to other countries. Tv is one of the causes to this downword trend in education. When kids get home from school they want to sit on the couch and just watch tv instead of doing home work. Granted, no one wants to do home work right after they get home from school but tv isn't the best choice. Kids have spent all day sitting in a desk and staring at a white board or computer screen and they need to get some physical activity, instead they watch tv. It is not healthy physically or mentally to be sitting and staring all day. Also, it is so easy for kids to get distracted by tv, when trying to study or do home work. Just one push of the tv remote can derail an entire evening of studying.

           Lastly, the epademic of tv watching has made kids less independant. Children today are sruggling with interacting socially because their main model for daily living are fictional characters on tv. Tv show's create unrealistic situations and some kids don't realise that these situations are unprobable and ridiculous. Kids today would rather sit in front of a tv than go out into the world and explore. They stay in their for most of the day and this trend is producing kids who are more timid and don't know what to do when they enter the real world.

         Overall, I think America would benefit from the lack of tv's. This is not because tv's themselves are bad, but because kids don't use self-control. Tv in moderation is fine and can even help develop creativity, but kids have become to dependant on this electronic baby sitter.