TO TV OR NOT TO TV

"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels."

A beautiful and skimpily clad woman comes in view. She has "seduce me" written all over her as she sashays to the tune of a rock score in the background. Coming close, she smiles seductively and reclines on the seat of a motorbike and gestures to you...
And you start wondering what does the girl have in common with an advertisement meant to promote the newly launched motorbike. Nothing of course, but then you have to understand the power of sex. Sex can sell anything ... Well, almost!
Everyday similar advertisements - to say nothing of the movie channels and serials - some of which would have been found objectionable and banned a few years ago are becoming very much part and parcel of our everyday life. And we are lapping it all up within the so called security of our own home.

If you choose to read this post, I run the risk of inviting you to... Aa bull mujhe mar! :)

For years now the television has become the single most familiar and accepted means of entertainment, news, and learning. This medium has been so widely accepted that a home has to have a television. Is it any wonder then that more and more money is being pumped into the small screen industry than in big budget Bollywood blockbuster movies? And the industry has only now started to impress its coming upon a generation that has grown up with it, albeit surreptitiously. The television has grown in terms too huge to comprehend. The Internet and television have become an interactive means of communication.
Parents beware! There is a conspiracy afoot to snatch young kids and make them global citizens nurtured on global theories and global agendas.
The problem in most cases is that parents fail to recognise the impact of television on the newer generation. Many adults feel that since they freely watched television when they were kids, they can allow their kids in this time to also grow up on a staple diet of 'education through television'. But the television of the 70's and 80's is so much different from the television that we are exposed to now. Many folks think that television cannot be too bad for kids; after all it is informative entertainment.
Now where have I heard that before!
Readers will only be too familiar about cases where jilted and misguided youths have tried to disfigure their alleged lovers because they could not take no for an answer; suicide rates among the youth is ever increasing and has become a big problem especially during result times; sexual promiscuity is on the rise; add to this list - profanity, coarse joking, occultism, violence, fetishism, self-indulgence, anti-family, and indoctrination to theories (evolution for example). Of course, the blame does not rest solely on television but it has played an important part weaving itself through the fabric of "general awareness."
I could go on and on but I believe you are beginning to see for yourself!
Where do you think these influences are coming from? With the advent of technology lives are being reshaped into accepting a new lifestyle and television plays a pivotal role in this. Consider these facts:
An average child between 2 and 11 years old watches approximately 27 hours of unsupervised television per week. A study carried out ascertained that fighting with peers, conflicts with parents and delinquincy were directly corelated with the number of hours of television watching. Dr Jay Martin summarises as such: "It is troubling to note, especially for child care operators and parents who let their children watch moderate to large amounts of 'only the good stuff', that the fundamental correlation is not between aggressive behavior and the viewing of violence on TV. Increases in aggression correlate with viewing television, not with viewing violent scenes. The process of viewing -- the number of hours actually viewed -- is the main factor correlated with negative behavior.
"It appears that the best way to guard against over-aggressiveness and interpersonal conflicts is a two-pronged approach. First and most importantly, cut down on the total number of hours viewed. Second, eliminate all violent programs from your TV-viewing diet so that a callousness to pain and suffering is not unnecessarily fostered in the hearts of your own children."
Another study revealed that a child is exposed to over 20,000 commercials per annum. While adults often ignore the commercials, the ads (most of them suggestive) have a profound effect on the psyche of a growing child.
And is television addictive? Ask any kid whether he would prefer to eat his dinner with the family in the dining room or sit in front of the television watching a thriller movie or highlights of the cricket match! More often than none the youngster would take to the television.
Communication between family members have reduces drastically since the television has taken center stage in our homes.
Adults are caught in this trap too. Soap operas promote a promiscous lifestyle and endorses incestual behaviour. The very same qualities that the ancient city of Babylon, built by Nimrod, was famous for[1]. The family's loss of quality time together[2] is one of the most perplexing problems being faced in homes today and values completely contrary to building good character is taking root. The media has been selling ideas and values in the many hours that we watch television and movies. We have to understand that there are countless hours of planning that goes into the programming to get you to think the way "they" want.
Often have I heard of parents who encourage their children to watch the so called learning channels. Having grown up on Darwin's theory of evolution (which is a theory that has still not been proven scientifically), we have failed to bring onjectivity to reasoning. There has been a deliberate dumbing down of the education system worldwide and there seems to be precious little that one can do to correct this.
Me? I would like to challenge everything I see or read or hear and decide for myself. And for my kids I have a small gift - a cable free home!
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References:
[1] 'The Two Babylons' by Alexander Hislop.
[2] Robert S. Welch, "Making Your Family #1..." Focus On The Family Magazine (January 1987).