television

TELEVISION

Radio enables us to hear what is said at a distant place. But television enables us to see and hear what is happening at a distant place. Thus the impact of the television has replaced the radio in many homes. People now sit before their television set for hours together watching various interesting T.V. programs.

News, songs, dance, plays, films, cricket matches, football matches and various other programs are telecasted, and we can see them sitting in our drawing-room if we have a television set before us. We can see the newsreader reading the news. When there is some important news, we are shown the visuals depicting the actual incidents. When the newsreader says that Yeltsin met the American President Bill Clinton, we can see on the T.V. screen the two leaders meeting and conversing with each world events than those who listen to news bulletins broadcast by radio stations.

T.V. programs provide education as well as entertainment. The entertainment value of the television is equal to that of the cinema. We see pictures on the T.V. screen just as we see pictures on the screen in a cinema theatre. But the television is more convenient because we see everything sitting in our homes. We need not take the trouble of going to the theatre. Scientific programs and quiz programs are very instructive and of great educative value. Songs, dances, plays and films provide a lot of entertainments to T.V. viewers.

As the impact of T.V. programs is equal to that of films, the television can be used for social reforms and for promoting national integration. The harmful effects of social evils like dowry, casteism, smoking, drug-taking, etc., can be shown in T.V. programs in order to educate the people. As television(i.e. Doordarshan) is controlled by the government, they can easily do it if they have the will to do it. Programs for promoting national integration are being shown. A Keralite sings a Tamil song, a Tamilian sings a Marathi song, a Maharashtrian sings a gujarati song, a Gujarati sings a Bengali song, a Bengali sings a Kannada song, and so on. Such programs promote national integration.

Films can be recorded in video tapes and then telecast. Doordarshan telecasts a few films every week. In addition to this, we see any film we like on the T.V. screen, if we have a video cassette of the film and a V.C.P. or V.C.R. Some people think that this has adversely affected the income from films.

Television is very useful. But it is not an unmixed blessing. Television exerts a bad influence on many people. It makes people lazy. People sit for hours watching television and neglect their duties. This danger is greater in the case of students. They sit before the T.V. set watching interesting programs and neglect their studies. The habit of sitting before the television for hours together has become a dangerous addiction in many homes. Students should see only those programs that have educative value. They should realize that their duty is to study.


(This essay is suitable for 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th std students)

-Surenthiran