For this section of the class we will be comparing video game and television use and their addictive properties. In addition we will also look at the comparison of video game and television violence and whether there is a valid basis for comparison. Please post your response to Fridays assignment on time to get credit for attendance. pp 431-432 in the text, question 5.
I do not believe that television stops families from talking. I think that the television gives them something to talk about. In my house we would watch television as a family. We would watch different sitcoms,dramas, movies, pretty much whatever was on and it always stimulated a conversation. Whether it was a conversation on the actual show or if it was on the topic that the show covered. For instance, if we were watching a show where a sixteen year old girl got pregnant then my mother would use that to instruct us on sex and how to protect ourselves. I learned quite a bit about life and how to survive in it while watching television with my family.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicole, I think rather than stopping families from engaging in conversations, it sparks them. Yes, I do know people who become lost in their favorite show that they would rather wait until the end the show to talk about it, just so they didn't miss anything. But at the end of the show, they go, "wow..." and then off on this rant about how things got so crazy in the season to the point you find yourself arguing whether there are really people who act like that in real life. I hardly watch TV anymore, but there are definitely shows on TV today which would act as a conversation starter, such as The Secret Life of the American Teenager. I don't watch it religiously, but I know the gist of it. A girl becomes pregnant (unexpectedly) and has to deal with the choices she made that consequently lead to her becoming pregnant. The show portrays how a high school student, her family and friends deal with it all, and how she must alter her life now, not only be a young mother but also attend school to get her high school diploma. This show can be applied to many teenage girls out there and could be a way to help them not feel so alone in it all. I know a bunch of girls who became pregnant in high school and had to deal with going to school while making that life changing switch, going from a wild and crazy teenager, to a loving and caring mother (without much choice).
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that tv stops families from being involved with one another. Well at least for my family, we used to use the tv and certain shows and movies that we all loved to bond. I can see for some families that already have problems communicating that the tv could pose an easy way to escape from being around or involved with one's family. However, my family and also the other friends I used to watch certain tv shows with, it would always bring us together. There was one show called Prison Break, that a particular group of friends and I got into fairly recently despite it being out for a long time. It was true that during the show nobody talked to one another, but like Kristyn said, after that episode, or a season finale, we would literally all sit there for about the next half hour talking and communicating about how crazy they made the ending, or how much of an a**hole a certain character was. This wasn't my actually family but I added it because I don't see the difference; they were my good friends whom i consider family anyway. But back to topic, I think tv can also help a person of a family to distance themselves from their's as well. For instance, my father used to skip out on eating at the dinner table with the rest of us because he preferred sitting in his lazy boy chair instead of an uncomfortable stool/chair, and his favorite show,comedian, or sports channel would be playing. This was never really a problem or annoyance to anyone in my family, but he definitely somewhat distanced himself, and i can see how this can negatively effect family relationships.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete