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Square Eyes On The Rise

Square Eyes On The Rise

TV, everyone’s favourite past time but how would they react if they knew the invisible damage it causes. With the average 6 year old already having spent 1 year watching TV, they’ve wasted valuable time they could have used playing outside and filling their days with healthy activities. Television might be the symbol of relaxation and comfort but people are being misguided! No one deserves to be lied to so why haven’t the general public rioted against the dramatic and dangerous effects of these over-rated strobe boxes. There is a dark side to the box that controls our lives. People would rather vote for a TV superstar on Big Brother or the X Factor instead of contributing to the nation wide question of who will be our Prime Minister? Surely this high profile dispute should mean more to people than Simon Cowells cold-hearted jibs at clearly talentless performers. It might be tempting to tune in to episode of CSI but moderation isn’t helping. Balance is needed but the scales are desperate for recalibration.

Although we might not see the dangers that television presents, it is a silent killer. It brainwashes the young and middle-aged into believing in a life of violence and crime. DVD’s and American TV shows have possessed the minds of nations, triggering the imagination and ruining families. Crime levels have soared in adolescent men and what has driven them to such low, cold-hearted actions? TV! The culprit that would be locked away for accessory to murder if it had a pulse, and Bhutan knows all about it. As the last country to introduce TV, with only 46 cable channels they not only experienced ‘breath taking’ television, they also had to deal with their first serious crime wave, something they didn’t sign up for when they installed this silent killer.

Children and parents sitting around a TV is the stereotypical view the media print of the ‘normal’ British family but not many are meeting this expectation. With 1/3 of parents opting to watch TV instead of socializing with their children, the bright screen is ripping our families apart.

John Logie Baird, an inspiration, an idol to some but I believe our mental health would beg to differ. A TV can seriously harm our mental stability as tuning into your favourite 1 hour long show can damage your attention span by 9% and can cause depression. Britain is turning into a nation of self-pitying and sad, anti-depressant dependent mad men obsessed with the small screen, as we have the highest level of TV linked depression sufferers in Europe. If people were reminded of the problems such as brain cell damage and ADHD, they would think more about their mental health.

In addiction to our mental health our physical well-being is depleting. TV has caused a lot of things but to add to the never ending list, obesity, risk of type 2 diabetes, premature puberty and greater vulnerability to cancer has been linked to too many hours in front of the box. Excessive TV watching has been branded worse than not exercising and eating junk. If this continues then there will have to be another series of the Biggest Loser, giving over-weight people more TV to watch.

The former belief that TV is a harmless, everyday activity is warped. In spite of the fact that television is a popular past-time it is literally killing us with problems such as obesity, family issues, crime levels soaring and to top it off our mental health is depleting! Are we going to stand for any of this? We say that the education of our children is the most important thing to us but we still let them watch this brain-cell zapping box, which only negatively affects their ability to learn!

The average child watches 3 hours of TV daily, which has an extreme and long-term backlash on their mental health, subsequently causing a domino effect scenario. Before you know it your physical health is at risk, your family is ruined, crime is rife and you’re struggling with school because you spent far too many hours in front of the small screen, but you aren’t the only misguided souls out there. Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell has mentioned that ‘media literacy is important’ but how valuable is it if it’s ruining the test results of children. Kids between the ages 8-9 have worse test results now that TV’s are readily available. It’s permanently damaging the mental ability of toddlers (under 3 years old), if that isn’t enough to stop you from watching that box of doom, then nothing can. Therefore, in the name of our health, I urge you to side with me. Forget the years of TV’s and depleting mental health! Think no more of your televisions and move on, into a brighter future.