The Cost of Television Is Our Children

The Cost of Television is Our Children

By

Mohamed Ashraf Attia

Writing 102, Section 15

Professor Maria Eleftheriou

May 28, 2012

The Cost of Television is our Children

Is it possible for a person to be living in Dubai and in the same time living in the United States by just pressing on a red button? This is possible after the television invention because television can bring for us the daily news of all the countries by sounds, pictures and videos. Television represents this media every moment and it made the world like a small village allowing us to access other countries medias like movies and cartoons easily. However, its drawbacks and side effects directly influences people and mainly children. Television’s programs affect our children health, physical activities, behavior and their relationships with their parents negatively. Some children watch television for plenty of hours each day rather than spending their active time studying and doing their homework’s.

Television has tremendous number of disadvantages that affect the children’s physical activities and health. For example, meanwhile watching television, children concentrate too much in order to understand every scene. Due to this constant concentration, children eyes may be weakened and they may have to sit closer to the TV screen to see properly. As a result, their eyes may sustain a greater damage and shortly they may need to wear glasses. Moreover, watching television is considered an entertainment for most children; thus, they may prefer watching television rather than playing sports and engaging in activities. Significantly, children may have greater risk suffering from obesity because they are converting their energy to fats rather than burning it through activities such as jogging and running. Another reason that link children obesity with TV watching is the tempting fast food advertisement. Most of the TV programs will be frequently interrupted for advertising sessions, and many are about fast food products and the facility for home delivery. The majority of these fast food commercials products are unhealthy because of the high cholesterol content and caloric points they contain which can lead to many health hazards as heart attacks and diabetes. As a result, children will be more vulnerable to catch such diseases and health problems in a younger age compared with the previous generations which was not exposed to such seductive advertisements. According to Dr. Daphne Miller (1999), who is an associate professor at the University of California where she teaches nutrition and integrative medicine, “This well-known couchpotato syndrome is probably the result of taking in too