Caution: Watching television is harmful to your mental health

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Tweet I never imagined myself saying this, but life is better without television.

I have not watched an entire episode of a sitcom, drama, reality series, award shows, or anything else, for that matter, in about two months. Truthfully, I can say time without TV has been rewarding.

With both the football season and premier prime-time programming kicking into high gear, it is a relief to say the only time I turn on the TV now is check the local forecast on The Weather Channel.

I have confidence in admitting that is my only reason for flipping on the device, but I wonder how many others can say the same?

According to Nielsen Media Research, the average American watches four hours of TV a day. Whoever finds that much time to watch so much television each day must be in love with the concept. But that’s no wonder - TV is seemingly unavoidable. It seems as if it is a necessity in our culture.

Nielsen reports show that 98 percent of U.S. households have at least one television set. Surprisingly, 41 percent have three or more.

Growing up, I cannot recall a time when there wasn’t at least one television set in my house, and I am sure the majority of people can relate.

I do not remember many occasions when the living room was not bathed in its semi-ethereal glow, either.

Television sets are left on an average of seven hours, 40 minutes each day in the average home, according to Nielsen reports. But remember, the average Americans only watch four hours.

The reason for the discrepancy: the child factor.

According to a 2000 Nielsen report, American children ages 2-17 spend an average of 19 hours, 40 minutes watching TV each week.

The report also revealed American youth watch an average of 1,023 hours of TV yearly, while they only spend about 900 hours in school.

Parents, teachers, lobbyists and legislators have been bemoaning television for decades now - and with good reason. Beyond reasonable doubt, it can corrode brains.

Research by The Annenberg Public Policy Center shows 21 percent of self-professed “educational” programming has little or no educational value.

In 2000, a National Assessment of Educational Progress report found that students who watch TV the most also suffer the most academically. Students who watched TV for six or more hours a day earned the lowest scores, on average, and those who watched an hour or less earned the highest.

It’s as if we are a nation of television zombies.

With the hundreds of thousands of commercials popping up each programming hour, we easily become influenced and programmed.

According to a 2000 National Institute on the Media and the Family report, a child can develop brand loyalty by age 2.

This seems incredibly disturbing.

Since so much of our time growing up is spent watching TV, and so many parents use TV to entertain and “baby-sit,” much of our earliest learning and world perspectives are formed while sitting in front of a TV screen.

A 1999 Senate Judiciary Committee Staff Report found that by age 18, the average American has seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 16,000 murders.

Violence on television and its impact on our outlook can be debated, but its overall impact and influence is undeniable.

We are at great heights in the information age, and television is one our most valued possessions. We need it for support. We rely on it for strength. Its influence shapes us. We depend on it for enchantment and distraction from our daily worries.

But it seems as if the often rectangular mass of cathodes, glass, tubes and electrical wire has become our surrogate mothers, fathers, teachers and leaders all in one.

A friend recently told me, “I need to have the TV on to fall asleep at night.”

Just about every Thursday, I overhear someone tell her or his companion, “Let’s keep this conversation short - ‘Friends’ is about to come on.”

At other times, I see large groups of people silently (or uproariously, depending on their moods) watching episodes of “The Real World,” “E.R.” or “Survivor.”

While I doubt many college students have time to watch that much TV - and there is nothing inherently wrong with religiously watching a show every week -� at times I wonder if I am the only person in the country not taking stock in television viewing.

Besides “The Simpsons,” various music video channels or the occasional piece on The Learning or History channels, I see no redeeming value in any television programming today.

Day after day, week after week, year after year, I ignore the advertisements and commercials promoting the trendiest fashions, technology or soft drinks. I avoid useless infomercials, reunion specials and “movies of the week.” I detest the exorbitant fodder of “Cribs” or “MTV Diary.”

I reject lame, redundant, recycled pieces of garbage known as sitcoms and reality series.

I would rather read a book than allow my mind to get tainted by channels that hype useless products and promote overindulgence.

I find nothing substantial or educational about a medium that compels people to heed unwarranted warnings of war or disease, upholds unattainable images for the masses, glorifies violence, informs more about the history of a boy band than the U.S. Constitution and presents a generally unrealistic reflection of ourselves and the world.

I am not saying everything about television is detrimental, but it seems to do more harm than good. It seems only to serve as a mind-numbing alternative to reality that drains knowledge, lulls many into a false sense of security and content and urges us to think of nothing.

Life beyond the filtered screen seems much more entertaining.

Mark Hicks is the State News opinion writer. Reach him at hicksma4@msu.edu.

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