Negative Effects of Television Programs in the Modern Society

Negative Effects of Television Programs in the Modern Society

Television has a number of social effects in the society given the result of current studies across the globe. Every individual is affected by watching television, though at varying proportions, and this variance is due to age difference. Whereas children will not differentiate reality from television acts, grown people are also glued to television for different reasons. Television sets are nearly in every home in the developing and developed countries and it would be a denial to refute that it has no significant effects in the society. Although television watching has some positive effects, the negative effects will be the concern of this essay. This paper evaluates the negative effects of television watching to the social well being in the society.

The television menace in the society is real and affects the society in massive proportions. It consumes time and sacrifices personal time and people seem to be unaware of these impacts. Since the inception of television, the society has lost its cultural values and on average, people in America spend at least 9 years of their life in television watching. For instance, social clubs are becoming empty as those who should enjoy the services are glued to their televisions. The reading culture is slowly fading as television watching is steadily replacing time to read.

The family life is also affected by too much television watching. Unlike the earlier years, when television programs were available for just few hours in a day, today there are numerous TV channels. The channels have a number of different programs that audience can choose. The family had time to address social issues that affect every member of the family over dinner but today there is hardly any time. Dinner is served on laps as people watch TV. In addition, unlike the days when one TV set was adequate for a single family, today there could be as much as three TV sets installed in every room in the house. This separates family time for interaction, which is in contrast to the idea that television brings the society together.       

Children who watch too much television programs believe that they should act like what they see in the television.  Television watching can be attributed to increased criminal acts that befell modern societies. Rising levels of insecurity is a result of the group’s exposure to social rot in the society. This is because kids want to practice what they watch from some of the programs are violent in nature.

Another big problem associated with television watching is that it encourages consumption of fast food. This is because an average television audience will spend at least 2-3 hours and the best company would be some product from McDonalds or Big Mac. It encourages the consumption of fast food, which has health implications in the society. They have less time to exercise. In addition, due to lack of adequate time for meals preparation, they resort to consumption of readily available fast food.

One way of addressing the fast food menace in the society is through management of responsible media coverage of the issue. There is growing interest by not only the WHO but also national administration to regulate advertisements that cover fast foods. This is because of the growing concern of increased cases of obesity and the perceived ideas that fast foods in the major contributor towards the growth of these trends. The children are a vulnerable group that needs protection from such advertisements. A child can be protected from aggressive media advertisement by setting policies in three different ways. These include the role of the government, the role of parents, and self-regulation of the firms in the fast food industry. In Australia, those arguing in favor of self-regulation of the industrial players are the Federal Government, media personalities, and the food industries.

On the other hand, television has played an important part in enlightening the society since its inception and popularity in the last five decades. It has helped in interconnecting the world and as such, it is a frontier towards development of human mind and improved understanding. People can now watch world events, monitor financial trends and avenues for investment without spending much time in research. In essence, marketplace is right in the living room. In addition, one can catch favorite sports taking place around the globe without the need of physical presence at the venues. The television has also fastened the development of art and music industries from diverse cultures around the world. Just like technology, developments in television experience are a catalyst in interconnecting the global society and fast-tracking modern innovations.

In sum, the essay highlights the negative effects on television watching due to its impacts in the social health of our society. There are positive impacts that the television has brought in the modern society; for instance, enlightening the society on world news and opportunities for investment in the global arena. However, without proper management of the negative impacts that television bring in the society, the positive impacts will be meaningless. The negative impacts are multifaceted and affect both the social and health parameters. The government should therefore take legislative measures to curb the issues through policymaking. There is need to protect children from aggressive advertisement by fast food industries in order to curb the rising cases of lifestyle diseases. It is only in this way that we can address the issues of television watching and benefit from the constructive nature of television. However, as it stands, negative impacts of television watching are worrying.