TOPIC DISSCUSSED IN CLASS ENTRY

Jay Barden

This week in AP language was full of readings. All we had to do every night was read different things. This weekend we were assigned to read Television: the Plug in Drug by Marie Winn. I thought that this was an outstanding piece of literature. It talks about how the invention of the television at first brought families together when they only owned one television. As the years passed, however, families started having more than one television set which divided families possibly greater than that of when there was no television at all. In my opinion families should be able to have more than one television set however, they should spend at least one hour a week watching a program together. This will not only bring families together, but it will provide conversation for them later on in the day such as dinner. All families should eat dinner with each other according to this article. Winn describes how families are being divided at the dinner table because people in a family will eat in a different part of the house so that they can watch a certain show while they are eating. In my opinion, television should not be watched or bothered with during dinner because families need to be discussing different topics and talking about what went on during their day instead of watching TV. TV is basically like a drug according to Marie Winn. It is another way to escape from reality. Most things that are shown on TV would never occur in real life. They are made up stories portrayed by people in order to enable the human population to escape from the harsh world that we live in today. Without TV, life would be depressing in most cases. People also watch TV when there is nothing to do and it gives them some time to burn while they figure out what they are going to do that day. It lures people in and they cannot take there eyes off the TV until there program is finished or they get tired/bored of watching TV. Sporting events and the news programs are the only things that represent reality in most cases. Everything else that is shown on TV is staged. Marie Winn also explains how most mothers avoid fighting with their children by just simply letting them watch as much TV as possible and not have to worry about any confrontations. She gives an example of how two siblings were in an argument about watching TV and the mother just let them both watch what they wanted to end the confrontation. This is the wrong way to handle things. TV should only be watched by children after they have taken care of the important things that they need to take care of during the day such as schoolwork, sports, physical activity, and hygiene. The invention and use of the television is starting to bring families apart and people are slow in realizing it. Television sets need to be used in limited amounts and more important things need to be placed as a priority over televisions. Families need to be brought together in a time of need for the benefit of the human American race.