A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Watching T.V |
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| Faisal |
| 06/02/04 at 15:38:46 |
| Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Watching television is bad for children. Use specific details and examples to support your answer. I do not completely agree aith the statement that whatching television is bad for children. While it has some disadvantages, watching television has certain important benefits which cannot be obtained otherwise. The main benefits children derive from watching television are education and entertainment. On the other hand, the undesirable consequences that television viewing may bring about include wastage of time, health hazards and influence of offensive content. Television has tremendous potential to impart education to children. While children are given formal education in schools, the knowledge obtained from watching television is impossible or atleast very difficult to obtain through other means. Certain channels like the Discovery channel and the National Geographic Channel focus exclusively on content aimed at improving the knowledge of viewers. For example, there are programs about tourism and trave, which give information about various countries, peoples and places around the world. The videos, pictures, commentary and music which accompany generate an effect which is very difficult to experience by simply reading a book or by listening to someone talk. Similarly, there are programs dealing with scientific issues ranging from explaining the fundamentals to informing about the latest developments in the fields related to the cutting edge science and technology of the day. The processes being explained can be demonstrated with the aid of various effective techniques like magnification, slow motion videos, time lapse photography, stroboscopy and computerized modelling and animations. Apart from these, television also serves to keep children informed about current affairs through news, sports coverage and documentaries. Apart from the educational value that televisions represents, they also have tremendous ability to entertain. Present day children are subjected to so much stress as a part of studies in school that a minimum amount of relief and entertainment is not only desirable but also essential for their well-being. Young children find cartoon shows very much interesting. These shows not only provide them with an opportunity to forget all the stresses and anxities of the day, but they also impart certain moral values to them. For exampe, children might learn that doing wrong things will eventually result in punishment or suffering. Apart from cartoons, there are also certain other types of programs which prove useful to children at various ages. Watching sports may encourage children to participate in such games which in turn helps them to maintain good health. Programs focussing of fune arts and literature may prompt children to use their own creativity and discover their own abilities like poetry, painting, music and dance. While these are some of the good reasons as to why children should be encouraged to watch television, care must be taken about the following negative aspects of the same. Children, if not guided and monitored properly, may experience some adverse effects of watching television. For example, they may spen too much time watching television and fail to keep up with their academic work. Prolonged TV viewing and incorrect viewing practices like sitting too close to the television or keeping the TV room poorly illuminated, may pose certain health hazards like impairing eye sight. There is also a possibility of children being exposed to and influenced by the offensive and objectionable content that has become commeon on television nowadays. Viewing extreme violence and abusive content may prompt children to take up similar activities. To avoid these consequences, children should be carefully monitored and gided while ensuring minimum freedom and choice. Thus I feel that watching television is beneficial to children and should be encouraged and at the same time suffiecient caution must be exercised to see that they don't fall victim to the sdverse effects of watching television. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Believe me, it took only 30 minutes. |
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