Many of us love to watch TV, especially during our free time and if we have nothing to do. We like to watch TV while eating our favorite snacks or hanging out at a friend’s house. Either way we are entertained when we watch television. There are many different programs that we can watch on television depending on our mood and personality. Some love to watch sitcoms and talk shows, while others, especially kids and the young at heart, love to watch cartoons on Cartoon Network or the Disney channel.
But then, watching TV has its advantages and disadvantages. Experts say that watching too much television, especially among children, is not good for your health or your mind. Television can be entertaining and informative, but it can be harmful and damaging at times.
Below are the pros and cons of watching TV.
Advantages:
1.) Entertainment and laughter
We are entertained by programs that we love to watch. We laugh at the things we find funny and humorous in the television program we are watching. We also love to dance or sing along with the celebrities we see on TV and some of us even copy their dance moves and singing styles.
2.) Information and procedures
We learn a lot of information about places and people that we don’t normally learn from magazines, books and newspapers. There are travel programs that show us beautiful places in the world and inform us about the culture of different countries, which can be of great help, especially if we plan to travel. We also easily learn how to cook new recipes by watching cooking shows, and we can learn to do other things through programs that show step-by-step procedures for doing a particular job, exercise, or other interesting things.
3.) Improve memory and facilitate learning
We often take note of the schedule of our favorite programs, especially if it only shows once or twice a week. We tend to store and remember things that recently happened on our favorite show before the next episode is shown on TV. This will help improve our memory that we can apply in our daily lives. It’s easier for children to learn math, science, the alphabet, and other subjects if someone can show them how to do it, such as counting, identifying objects, and much more. Educational TV shows are available for children to watch and learn.
4.) Bonding with family and friends
Watching TV is a great way to bond with family and friends, especially on the weekends. You can laugh and discuss things you see on TV. That can be a lot of fun.
5.) Awareness and Alertness
Weather reports and current news about different parts of the world can tell you about what is happening outside of your country. You can also be alert when a typhoon is approaching your area and that can help you prepare.
Cons:
1.) Decreased creativity and imagination.
TV shows including commercials tend to share their creative works with us and impart their ideas and opinions to us, which is not favorable and can lead to a decrease in our creativity and imagination as we cannot think for ourselves, since creative things are easy. available and shared with us.
2.) Health problems
We usually eat junk food or any of our favorite snacks while watching television. This is not good for our health because we tend to eat a lot while sitting in front of the TV. This can lead to obesity as we don’t move much when we watch TV. This can also lead to other serious ailments caused by eating too much and moving less.
3.) It makes people lazy
Most of us get hooked by watching shows on our favorite TV channel. Sometimes we even forget to do our work or other important things because we get involved in the program we are watching. Some people forget to do housework because they would rather watch TV than work.
4.) Some programs don’t teach good values.
There are television programs that do not teach good values ​​particularly to children. Instead of teaching them good deeds, they even imitate, recreate or simulate important things that happen around us that are not good for children to see.
In short, when watching TV you need to choose and monitor the TV shows that you and your children should watch. Choose programs that can help you learn and grow as a person. You should also limit the time your children spend watching television. The maximum number of hours that young children should watch television is 3 hours, while for teenagers you should make sure that they watch good programs only when they are done with homework and projects.