A exellent debate on the topic, " Television is a boon or bane". For about 2 minutes.
Answers
Good morning everyone present. I am going to express my views on ‘Television a boon or bane’; and I am going to speak on Television as boon.
Alan Corenk has wittily said: “Television is more interesting than people. If it were not, we would have people standing in the corners of our rooms.” It is quite true that much of television’s potential remains underutilized.
Television has the potential of becoming an exceedingly innovative tool of liberal education for children. All that is required is insightful handling of this wonderful medium of imparting information. Unplanned TV programmes management can be both good and bad depending upon how you use it. TV watched in controlled manner and as an aid to knowledge and learning is a wonderful tool. For example, news channels, Discovery, Nat Geo, Animal Planet, History channel, Sony BBC Earth, etc. can really enhance one’s knowledge and understanding about so many concepts.
TV has an edge over all other learning aids. It imparts information in the most entertaining manner. Scientifically it is better as it involves both the visual and the auditory sense organs in the learning process optimally. Have you ever seen a child watching any programme on Discovery? He is perfectly engrossed in it. The video accompanied by flawless audio absorbs the child’s attention completely. The child learns entreatingly. He remembers it lifelong. Given this advantage, why don’t the educationists use it as a learning tool? Why are there not as many learning programmes as are movies, soap operas or reality shows?
Answer:
Television is an ocean of entertainment, knowledge and information, but many people think that it is an idiot box and that watching T.V. is simply wastage of time. I think if properly used it has more advantages than disadvantages.
Television is one of the best sources of entertainment. It provides us variety of entertainment such as daily soaps, reality shows etc. Television viewing adds information and knowledge to our lives. It is the best way of getting rapid news which can be transmitted in a moment. There are many news channels which provide news about current affairs, sports, and movies. There are channels like Discovery, Nat Geo and History T.V. 18 which enhance our knowledge regarding science, technology and wild life. Channels like Fashion T.V. inspire people and influence their lifestyle. Many programmes improve our skills like cooking, speaking, acting and dancing. In a nut shell, it impacts our overall personality. It is also a means to showcase the talent of common people.
On the other hand, many people call it an idiot box because it hampers our ability to think and argue. It is also blamed of reducing our creativity and some people say that it compromises reading and writing abilities also. However these side effects are associated with excessive T.V. watching. Many programmes spread violence and hatred among people. It is also killing family values. It makes people idle and is also turning them into couch potatoes. Many health issues like headache, sleeplessness, eye sight problems and obesity are caused by excessive watching of T.V. It also affects behaviour of youngsters in a negative way making them aggressive and less tolerant.
To conclude, I would like to say that television is one of the best useful inventions of all time. It is up to us how we can extract the best out of it. Many of the ill effects are associated with excessive T.V. watching. Negative behavioural changes can be stopped by selecting appropriate programmes and through the supervision of parents.