Sample Essay for Television Topic:
Bobby Romano, eight years old, comes home from school, kisses his mother, grabs a
banana, and plops down on the sofa to watch Batman. When Bobby’s mother asks him how
school was, he says in annoyance, “Fine,” and goes back to watching the show. Bobby’s mother
suggest that he go out to play or finish homework, but Bobby remains glued to his seat, his eyes
a glassy stare. He has three pages of math homework and a book report to finish, but as this
moment his mind is deep in the Bat Cave. Like millions of American schoolchildren, Bobby
Romano is the victim of a mindless activity that robs him of his creative energies: television.
Television is not a totally bad medium. Educational shows on PBS, documentaries such
as the one on the Civil War, and certain programs, movies, and specials teach viewers more
about the world. Television, which has been called the “the 19-inch neighborhood,” lets us
travel to places we’ve never been and experience people and cultures who are different from us.
But children such as Bobby Romano do no always use television to its productive advantage.
Television becomes an electronic babysitter, a passive activity that requires nothing from the
viewer. When parents fail to supervise or do not talk to their children about the barrage of
conflicting images on the screen, children do no develop the critical skills they need to judge
what they see and hear.
Although many American schools are trying to integrate television viewing into their
educational programs, they have lagged behind in addressing the power and influence television
has, especially on young viewers such as Bobby Romano. Children often lack the skills to
discern and discriminate, to choose between fantasy and reality, to separate the abstract from the
concrete. Violent images such as blood being splattered everywhere, people shooting each other
for petty reasons, inappropriate references to sex, and music television with a host of sexist
messages should all be filtered for young viewers. Schools need to recognize that television,
good and bad, is here to stay and can be used as an effective teaching device, but Bobby and his
friends need help knowing how to be selective in their viewing.
An additional use of television and the primary one – one advertising – is perhaps
television’s greatest influence on children. Children’s programming in particular has been
criticized by the National Coalition on Children’s Television for running shows that are actually
30-minute advertisements for toys, action figures, or games. One study of six-year-olds
indicated they did not know where the show stopped and the commercials began. Also, the
message to children, like Bobby, about most products is that they must have this doll, this kind of
running shoe, or this pair of jeans to belong and be cool. American television advertising does
not encourage children to be secure in their own beings and heavily promotes active toys for
boys (how to do something) and passive toys for girls (dressing pretty dolls).
Overall, television is both friend and foe to children. When children like Bobby Romano
use television as a substitute for play, interaction, and thought, they fall prey to T.V.’s negative
influences. When they bug their parents for a pair of name-brand shoes or jeans, they become
victims of the fallacy that, “Everybody’s doing it, and I’m no one until I do it, too.” In contrast,
when children watch shows like “Reading Rainbow,” they partake of the best that television has
to offer. Schools, parents, broadcasters, and advertisers must all work together to turn the glassy
stare of a Bobby Romano into the alert, excited gaze of a child involved in that most precious
pursuit – learning.