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¶ … Television, the Plug-in Drug": Negative Effects on "Plugged-in" Children and Families
Based on Marie Winn's essay, "Television, The Plug-In Drug," the all-too-frequent role of television on our lives today is that of either (1) babysitter; (2) too-frequent family entertainer; and (3) emotional narcotic. Moreover, according to Winn, television, when watched excessively or as a substitute for human interaction, is a negative "plug-in drug," in its mind-numbing effect on individuals and families alike. Therefore, I agree with Winn that the role of television in our lives is too often to distract us; numb us, and keep us preoccupied and distant from one another, compromising (if not destroying) communication within families, and among people in general. I therefore agree with Winn's overall view that television is capable of damaging (and often does damage, or even destroy) interpersonal; family, and other relationships among peers and within society. Viewing television, especially for long periods, narcotizes one against life itself; that is, first-hand experiences and feelings; conversations; conflict resolution; and human bonding.
In today's world of fast food; frenetic two-income...
In the days before television, Winn recalls, families typically spent time together: talking, playing, and establishing the "glue" of meaningful ties that could transcend time and space. Winn observes that, even in long-past decades when TV sets were expensive luxuries, family members would at least watch one television set together. But nowadays, in households with multiple television sets, it is all too common for family members to watch separate television sets separately, and even eat dinner separately, with each person occupying a different room, glued to his or her respective television, eating a solitary dinner. Thus, as Winn notes, "The relationships of family members to each other are affected by television's powerful; competition in both obvious and subtle ways" ("Television, the Plug-In Drug," p. 329).
And, while it is true (and Winn admits) that television cannot be blamed for every weakness in society, or for every dysfunctional family, TV definitely is not (as Winn quotes a 1949 writer, who predicted…
An article published in 2002 in the Journal of Communication further explored television's impact on marriage. In their study, 285 never married college students were interviewed about their idealistic marriage expectations. In the vast majority of those interviewed, their marriage preferences were based upon television shows, such as soap operas and romantic comedies. It should go without saying that this notion is appalling. In an age where divorce is at
television has brought irreversible damage to the American family in t least two ways, by corroding marks, and by making the 'good enough' family less likely to be 'good'. There are, she says, three types of families: the 'spectacular' -- that which eats together with children, reads aloud to them, plays with them, is simply the uncommonly ideal family that you read about in books. To the other extreme is
presence of a television set in the home have a negative impact on children and the family unit as a whole? According to some researchers, this is exactly the case. Marie Winn's article "Television: the Plug-In Drug" was published originally in 1977 and updated in 2002. At that time, televisions had been in homes for about three decades and the color television was taking hold. More and more programming
(Hill 83; Javors 35) We are not alone in this. In China, often accused of attempting to mimic Western culture, the producers of an RTV show "Ying Zai Zhongguo," or translated somehow as "Win" in English draw a similar conclusion: their hope that the program would encourage more people in China to start their own businesses. Song Wenming...hoped the show would introduce the "positive power" of entrepreneurship. Ms. Zhou said she
For small amounts of viewing, achievement increased with viewing, but as viewing increased beyond a certain point, achievement decreased. That function was found for each of the 3 ages studied, but optimal viewing time -- the apex of the function - was different at each age and decreased with the age of the students. (Razel, 2001) Research Showing Positive Effects on Children On the other hand, there is some research that
Media on the U.S. Society Some years ago, if someone asked us to name the sources of media present in our society, we would easily be able to do so. However, today media has extended and become much more widespread than it was before. With the process of globalization that has encompassed the entire world, came the concept of media and the need to stay in touch as the infrastructure