For the Love and Hate of Television

Television is a waste of time. It's great to be able to relax late at night and mindlessly process trivial information, sure, but to the extreme proportions Americans utilize television, it's unacceptable.

When statistics such as "54% of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television" show up, there is a crisis on our hands. Americans are becoming so reliant on telecommunication that they have no real communication in their life. If a TV is more important than spending time with our parents, it's obvious who our real "loved one" is. According to recent studies, children who watch TV in excessive amounts tend to be more antisocial when placed in a setting with other children, have weaker academic performance, and are more likely to have major health concerns as they grow older, cutting 5 years off their expected life span compared to that of a child who doesn't watch TV in excessive amounts. TV is more accessible now than it was a few decades ago, and many researchers fear that it will show in today's children and teens as they approach retirement age- they predict these results will only worsen with each passing generation.