Does Television Affect Your Intelligence?
People young or old, men or women, love to watch television for long hours. Every medium of entertainment has an impact on the health of the society and television is no exception to this. There are some common allegations against television. Some of them are: we have stopped taking the world around us seriously because of television, it delivers mindless entertainment, which sensationalize some absurd issues and we amuse ourselves with them and most of the programs that are aired on TV lack quality content.
Researchers from all across the world are conducting several investigations to find out the influence of television on our intelligence. People of all age groups and diverse backgrounds have been involved in these researches to find whether television affects our intelligence. However, there is no practical evidence which shows that television prevents the normal development of the brain or causes any harm to brain stimulation.
Negative Effects of Television on your Intelligence
Theoretically, it has been asserted that television has a bad impact on our emotional as well as learning intelligence, if not directly, at least indirectly. It is difficult to quantify the extent of damage, but it has hampered our creative and imaginative mind. This is true particularly in the case of small children. The children who spend long hours in front of the television, often seen to face problems like being inattentive in class. It has been observed that the attention span of these children is quite low. Social and emotional skills fail to develop among teenagers due to the drastic decrease in social interaction, which results from spending long hours in front of the TV and neglecting all other activities. It is also a common complaint that these teenagers often develop an attitude of disrespect towards elders and that they are losing out on the ability to think and react positively or creating something new. There are certain programs, which show a lot of violence that is cited to be the reason of the growing intolerance.
How to Prevent the Negative Effects of Television
People who are happy and healthy have positive attitude, which makes them intelligent and brings success in their life. A positive attitude can be imbibed in children, if the atmosphere at home is safe and secured and there is unconditional love in the family. These positive factors persuade every child to do well in their schools and colleges. A supportive family plays a vital role in the development of the child's intelligence and facilitates creative thinking.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the adults in the family to spend some quality time with the younger ones. Instead of spending the evenings in front of television, plan for some outdoor dinners more frequently. Encourage children to pursue various hobbies. Help them to develop their rationale and form an opinion on issues, whether political or non-political. They should be taught to follow their mind and not compromise with the truth. They should know how important it is to have logical and coherent thoughts.
Allow the children to watch some selective programs. After all, not all the TV shows are bad and some of them enhance the knowledge of the children. As a result, they grow up to be knowledgeable adults. News aired on television provides them with useful information from every corner of the world. Children can watch many such places and events on a TV, which may otherwise be impossible to experience. It has been found that young people who watch television, have a serious approach towards news. They show special interest in seeking knowledge from various forms.
We cannot blame television alone for causing any harm to our intellectual capacity. We have to bring about some changes in our attitude and approach towards life to tackle the minor problems of social behavior that are observed due to watching television excessively.
