TV Time

I just read a study conducted on the detrimental aspects of television on young people, that it causes anti-social behaviour, stunts emotional development and negatively affects inter-personal relationships. Television’s also been blamed for poor physical health and obesity in children. While I do not doubt the validity of the study, or the methods employed (sample size, mode of study, etc), the value of television in helping mold young minds should not be downplayed.

While the obvious benefits of watching the news and documentaries are there, watching cartoons and TV shows help develop young people’s imaginations, taking them to different worlds, exposing them to different types of stories and characters. Television shows all have a technical requirement for their production – they all need scripts (or at least some form of coherent narrative), cameras, graphics, soundtracks, etc – the combination of which gives us the shows we watch. Ignoring the content, young people can still appreciate what it takes to make any television production. Young people can aspire to be astronauts or martial artists or scientists or lawyers or explorers or presidents. Young people are exposed to different sports, and see world-class athletes perform their sports, leading to the hopes and dreams of the next Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods or Usain Bolt. They’re exposed to the world outside Jamaica, to see what a developed country looks like and how to get there, but also to see poorer places and make us appreciate what we have right here, right now.

There are many similarly negative effects if children spend too much time on the computer, perhaps even moreso, what with online predators and cyber-stalkers out there. But teaching computers to children is considered a critical component in not only developing children, but also in helping wider society progress into the future. The same positives which make computers such a useful tool for communication and making the world smaller can also be detrimental.

At least televisions are not interactive.

So many of my interests now – military, history, technology, cars, sports (basketball, baseball, American football, golf), entertainment, nature and the environment, geopolitics, etc – have been shaped and molded by my watching television, hours of it in fact. Television’s also been a good escape, to de-pressurize after a stressful day. Not to say that television’s the only influence; newspapers, newsmagazines and comics (Asterix comics were excellent in teaching me about European history, as well as wordplays, before I was 10 years old, and Archie comics often feature stories to other countries, familiarizing me with them well before I’ve had a chance to go there) also help.

Stop pounding on television and its negative effects young people. There are many other ways to negatively affect them. The best way to help young people and mold them properly is to parent them properly, being there for them and helping them and doing things with them as a family. Blaming television is a cop-out. So let the kids watch television – and join them!