Argumentative Essay : Effects of television viewing #Draft 2

Watching television is one of the famous and common daily routine of all time. Many of us spend our time mostly with television. Statistics has shown that the time spent on selected free time activities of full-time workers in year 2000 to 20001 are mostly on television viewing (Office for National Statistics 2004). There are few effects of television viewing and the effects can be either advantages of disadvantages to the viewer. In respond to the effects of television viewing, I strongly believe that it brings more negative effects than positive effects as it affects the development of thinking process, a time-wasting activity and leads to unhealthy lifestyle.

First and foremost, the side effect of television viewing is it affects the development of thinking process especially to children (Sharif 1999). This is because, the viewing of unsuitable programs for long periods can influence their idea of life and behavior as pictured by the television programs. This is a bad thing as they are at a stage where their attitudes, beliefs and ideas about the world are in progress (Sharif 1999). Furthermore, children may also become desensitized to violence depicted on television and imitating some poor behavior shown by characters in television show (Sharif 1999). As a result, these passive activities of television viewing could also restrict the development of imaginative skills which are important in developing problem-solving and organizational ability (Leigh 2001).

Besides that, another negative effect of television viewing is that it makes us difficult to concentrate on other activities such as homework or exercise (Leigh 2001). This time-wasting activity eats up the period that we have reserved for useful activities (Rutherford 2002). Based on an annual averages survey conducted in year 2003 of average hours per day spent in leisure and sports activities for the total population by selected characteristics, it is shown that most of the hours per day are wasted on television (American Time Use Survey 2003). In addition, it is also said that students who are heavy viewers are among the lowest achievers in academic (Leigh 2001).

Lastly, excessive viewing of television will also lead to unhealthy lifestyle. For instance, children are not physically active when they only spend prolonged period in front of the television (Sharif 1999). The situation become even worse when the sedentary activity indulged in with snacks which can cause obesity and related diseases (Rutherford 2002). Moreover, communication among family members will also be difficult when some families eat their meals while watching television (Rutherford 2002).

As a conclusion, watching television has many side effects and has to be avoided. These side effects affect the development of thinking process, a time-wasting activity and leads to unhealthy lifestyle. The blame is frequently directed to television and should be avoided so that we can have a healthier lifestyle without wasting our time.