ESL Discussion

Yes, but what did we use to do  before there was television? How often we  hear statements like this! Television hasn't  been with us  all that long,  but we are  already  beginning  to forget  what  the world was like  without it. Before we admitted  the one-eyed monster into our homes , we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilised pleasures.

For instance, we  used to have hobbies, we used to entertain  our  friends and  be entertained by them,we   used to go outside for our amusements to  theatres,cinemas,restaurants and sporting events.We  even used to read  books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past . Now all our free time is regulated by the"goggle  box" We rush home or gulp down our meals  to be in time for this or that programme.

We have even given up sitting at a table and having a leisurely evening meal. exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do- any thing, providing it doesn't interfere with the programme. The monster  demands and obtains absolute silece and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during the programme, he is quickly silenced.

Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten,homework undone and sleep is lost. The telly is a universal pacifier. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living room and turning on the set. It doesn't matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of  sadism and violence- so long as they are quiet.

There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world.

Every day , television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high  standards as well.When  millions watch the  same programmes ,the whole world becomes a village ,and  society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in pre-literate communities. We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication:pictures and the spoken word.

Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second hand  experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working . Little by little , television cut us off from the real world. We  get so lazy,we choose to spend a fine day in sem-darkness,glued to our sets ,rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be a splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with other ther people. We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend  a holiday by the sea or in the mountains , far away from civilisation. In quiet,natural surroundings ,we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly.