TELEVISION AS AN IDIOT BOX: A PERSPECTIVE

Television in the 20^th century emerged as a potent medium of entertainment, information and education. It has a profound way of influencing our thought process, attitudes and beliefs and it all hinges on the amount of television we watch. When children are exposed to this device, initially the box attracts and eventually, it starts distracting. A child develops a fondness for programs and over a while, the tendency to watch for long hours increases. Ultimately a child ends us spending considerable time watching TV. It is a herculean task to strike a balance between physical activities, homework, house chores and leisure time, especially for school going kids. As they devote time to television, striking balance becomes ever tricky, and a child becomes a victim of hyperactivity. With eyes glued to the box, the idiot box holds a child’s attention entirely, cutting him/ her from the rest of the world.

We understand that the environment is a great teacher, and one must move out to learn and explore life. But now that this child is living inadvertently in isolation, alas there rises a threat to overall development. Yes, the world of TV provides numerous experiences; it offers knowledge that otherwise wouldn’t be available to us. Studies also reveal that learners learn faster and better from TV than classroom instruction and even retain information for a longer duration. There’s a catch though- Not all content is suitable to be viewed by children. There is a dramatic increase in violence, coarse language, murder, crime and emotional ‘atyachaar’. Children entering into adolescence and children already in it are quite vulnerable to such feeding. They are uncritical of the information they receive and may commit acts under its influence, which can bring nothing but bad name. In this day and age, there are complaints of poor conduct, antisocial behaviour and aggressive attitude displayed by children at home. Who’s the culprit? The Idiot Box is one of the many things which condition such behaviour in intense viewers.

Wasting time is an inherent shortcoming of TV. Viewer’s reading ability also suffers. There is no benefit to our academic skills and other skills. Children don’t view programs which their parents want either way. Activities like active play outside with friends, eating dinner together with family or reading are compromised. The Idiot box also takes away time, particularly from sports, music, art or other activities that require practise to become skilful.

There are so many points that go against the television:

1. It increases the spending habit as people want to upgrade to HD connections and also to bigger LEDs. Children wish to game consoles which further adds to the family cost.
2. It has detrimental effects on a child’s brain. A child, when growing up, may struggle to engage socially.
3. Book writer Stephen King believes that watching television kills creativity. Many say it shuts down critical thinking. The noise emitted from screens is so mesmerising to kids that it captures their attention entirely separating them from people around.
4. Interacting with other children and people is essential for personality development. The lesser a child engages with them; difficulty generates, and there are complaints of poor conduct and antisocial behaviour.
5. There are some instances where overexposure to TV leads to poor grades at school and develops aggressive behaviour.
6. Too much junk food on TV can mean too much desire for it.
7. Some people watch it for pass time. What they don’t realise is that becoming a follower of a daily soap can be taxing their mind. All sorts of anxiety, frustration and depression can happen.
8. TV appeals more to emotions than logic. People watch it more for fun than learning.
9. TV addicts can feel that they have lost a friend if they prolong their TV viewing.

Even adults can’t escape the magnetic charm of the idiot box. Excessive TV viewing is contributing to sleep problem, behaviour problems, obesity, laziness, and leads to several health issues. A homemaker subject to too much daily soap viewing will not gain much, and even if she does, the chances are that more negativity will be taken than positivity. The Idiot box lastly provides only a monologue; there’s no scope for dialogue. And we humans must reciprocate to learn, to clear our doubts, to move forward in life and to take the right decision. The only idiot delivers one-way communication; therefore, TV is an Idiot box.