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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 14 May 2010 |
I was fortunate enough to be able to visit my family this past weekend. Most of my driving was after the sun went down, and in the darkness I happened to notice something that bothered me. In at least 100 cars, trucks and SUVs, I was able to see the little flickering glow of miniature television screens. It seems these portable video players are the latest rage among Americans.
As I was passing these vehicles, (I do drive a little fast) I was struck at how dependent our society has become on entertainment. If we don’t have something to look at every minute we get nervous.
This wasn’t always the case, whenever we took family vacations when I was a child, we didn’t have the luxury of TV’s, Gameboys and portable mp3 players to pass the time. We had a stack of comic books to read until the sun went down. After that, we were out of luck. We had to listen to whatever stations the car’s radio could pick up and if we didn’t like it, tough.
My sister and I invented little games to pass the time on road-trips. We would see how many license plates from different states we could spot or how quick we could get dad to threaten to “turn this car around” if we didn’t behave. We had to rely on our imagination to entertain us.
But I think imagination may be a lost art. Independent thought and creativity has been replaced by commercialized programs with flashing lights, exciting sounds and full line of customizable action figures and playsets!
It is bad enough that kids today are being raised more and more by television. Some children know how to work a VCR before they can ride a bike. Parents pop in a “Barney” tape instead of reading their kids a bedtime story. “Why don’t you watch a video?” has replaced “Why don’t you turn that thing off and go outside to play?”
I admit that I too watch more than my fair share of the idiot box. When I come home from work, it is the first thing that I turn on. And although I do turn it off occasionally, it does serve as “background noise” in a lot of my free time. But seemingly for more and more people, it has become a vital part of everyday living.
If you don’t think that television has taken over our lives, listen to this. A Wisconsin man is actually threatening to sue his cable company because they failed to disconnect him four years ago when he canceled service. Although he hasn’t received a bill since then, his family still has cable. He claims that the cable company is responsible for his addiction, his wife gaining 50 pounds and his kids being “lazy channel surfers.”
I find it amazing that this man is actually trying to sue the cable company because he was too lazy to turn off his television. I don’t think he cam up with the idea on his own. I think he saw it last week on L.A. Law.
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