Last Updated on February 24, 2024
A study of American households shows that there is an average of 2.55 persons in one home and there is an average of 2.73 televisions per household. So basically, American homes have more televisions than people inside. This study also shows that an average American spends more than 4.5 hours watching television daily.
This news reveals the sad reality that watching television is now considered the norm. It means that the days when kids played hide and seek and parents spent time with their children are almost gone. When I was a kid, I would go outside and play with my friends, make mistakes, get into trouble, explore, and learn from my mistakes. Now kids stay inside watch brainless programs and play video games.
I know I sound like an old Grandpa, however “back in my days” things were much different than today. I don’t want to sound like a “hater” or a “downer,” but it doesn’t take a genius to see where things are heading. Don’t get me wrong, I used to play numerous video games and enjoy Saturday morning cartoons. It just seems like now this is the only thing kids do, and they barely go outside.
Being bullied, getting beat up, and getting into trouble all have made me the person I am today. I know those things aren’t pleasant, however boy am I glad they happened to me. Without those confrontations I would be a completely different person. What’s life without mistakes right?
Let’s move to adults now. Many people enjoy various television programs and movies, is there anything wrong with that? No. I personally enjoy Games of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Eastbound & Down, and many more. The thing is that I watch those in moderation. I’m not constantly focused on them and make them a part of my life.
There are much more important things in life than “entertainment.” If you’re an achiever or entrepreneur, I’m sure you have a list of goals you’re working on. The reality is that life is short and time is priceless. Wasting your time watching TV is basically throwing your life away. Focusing on what’s important to you, should be your number one priority.
Once again I always use this analogy. When you’re on your death bed, you’re not going to wish that you would’ve watched more television. You will regret that you didn’t do what you wanted to in this life.
It’s not absolute that having a television or televisions in your home is a bad thing. It’s just that you’re better off without one. Do you honestly think that famous people, fashion models, music producers, movie stars, singers, major business men, CEO’s, and athletes simply sit in front of their television everyday? No. They’re out there working their butts off to make something of themselves. To support that claim, below are reasons why you should get rid of your television.
Bad for the eyes
First off, watching television is normally bad for your eyes. Although a lot of experts can agree on the fact that watching TV doesn’t leave a permanent effect on your eyes, they can also agree that it doesn’t have a good effect on them either. Additionally, studies show that focusing your eyes on one thing for a prolonged period can cause eyestrain – which is temporary but still irritating.
Let’s just say that you watch television for more than four hours every single day. Well, you don’t need a medical professional to know that this routine would strain your eyes daily. With that being repeated for a long period of, let’s say, 3-5 years, common sense would tell you that it would have adverse effects on your eyes. This situation can be described by the phenomenon of depreciation – which essentially means that the more you use something, the faster it breaks.
It makes you fat
While you spend hours watching different channels and shows you can sometimes forget that you are just sitting or lying down on your sofa. This fact cuts the number of hours that you can spend doing other activities such as exercising and doing some chores. Additionally, while you’re just moving your body once every few minutes while watching TV, you probably eat while doing so. With this, you double the chance of getting fat because you’re not burning the additional calories you are taking in.
Reduce the radiation
Medical professionals can attest that televisions emit radiation which can be absorbed by you while watching that home appliance. This radiation is not harmful at a certain level. However it can be a cause of infertility or other health problems when the radiation level is high. So, if you get rid of your TV, you reduce the risk of a radiation level that can have adverse effects on your body.
It gives you back or neck problems
First of all, let’s get one thing straight: Sitting in general is very bad for your body. When watching television, it is normal for you find a comfortable position with the sofa or the chair that you’re sitting in. Normally, you start in a seated position when starting your TV session. But, while you are getting comfortable, it often happens that you end up in a position which strains your back or neck. This can leave you with pains for a couple of days. So why not just get rid of your TV and never risk getting a stiff-neck or back ache ever again?
No more television induced actions and manners
A long time ago, televisions were only showing program content that was suited for a general audience (adults and children). Now, however, a lot has changed. Violence and sex are becoming the main idea or concept behind several shows and channels. Now, shows with crimes, sex, and inappropriate behaviors are no longer out of the ordinary.
Monkey see, monkey do. This makes TV a place where children and even adults copy bad manners, actions, and habits. It’s quite scary to see how desensitized people have become. Perhaps proper guidance can change that but you can never deny the fact that in some way it has an effect on the viewers. Why do you think they call TV shows “pro·grams?” 😉
It induces laziness
The more time you spend sitting or lying down the lazier you will become. Since you are not using your muscles for this activity, your body will have less strength over time which may lead you to always feel sleepy, become lazy, and have the ‘I don’t want to do anything’ syndrome.
Have more free time
When you throw your TV out the window (not literally), you are giving yourself more time to do other more important things. It means that the hours you normally spend just sitting and gazing at your flat screen TV will be the hours that you spend with your loved ones, doing some chores, creating art, pursuing your hobby, or other more useful/productive activities. It may sound cheezy to do this, but doing things that make you happy in the long run will always beat the short period of entertainment that you get from watching TV.
Lose all the TV related expenses
To have a television can be a huge financial burden. You have to buy that expensive TV, you have to pay for cable subscriptions and installation fees and you have to spend more on your electric bill.
In order to put less strain on that wallet of yours, you should get rid of your TV. Just imagine the things you can buy with the accumulated expenses that you spend each month. You could save it in a bank for the future, use it for a vacation, or even buy a new car.
Leads to an addiction
Watching TV for one or two hours a day at first is okay. However, when you get hooked on this daily routine, it can later lead to spending a couple more hours than the usual routine. This is often the case, until eventually you use up all your free time just watching television. This eventual result could mean disaster for you because you feel that you don’t have the time to do everything that you need to when the problem is just your way of managing your time. Don’t allow your life to slip away…
More time to sleep
To have more sleep can help improve bodily functions. You can only have this if you eliminate the primary distraction which separates you from your bed – television. Doing this would mean more quality time with your comfortable bed. As a result, you can wake up feeling rested, unlike the feeling of ‘I don’t want to get up yet’ when you watch TV until late at night. Moreover, when you do away with your ‘TV before sleep’ habit, your eyes would be less strained which means that you require less time for sleep than if you do otherwise.
Become a good example
Getting rid of your TV means you decide to live a minimalist life. This decision can be a good example for your kids or anyone close to you because you are showing them that having less doesn’t mean becoming unhappy. It would give the impression that material things such as a TV are not essential for living and it is just another distraction keeping you from accomplishing what’s more important.
Availability of better ways to get entertained
Why should you spend hours watching television when there are better ways for you to get entertained? One way is to bond with your special someone. Let’s just say, the hours of TV time can be your cuddle or magic time with your girl/boyfriend or husband/wife. Another way to be entertained is to go out with friends and have a couple of drinks. This would not only improve your social skills, you would also better your relationships.
Boost creativity
In conjunction with having more spare time, you can boost your creativity with no TV in the way. You can have time to finally practice your guitar or piano skills. You can let your inner artist come out by drawing or painting something. You can even take some voice lessons to finally achieve your dream of becoming a singer. It’s all up to you to decide.
It’s full of false advertisements
The television is a home for the vast majority of the advertisements from thousands of companies. It’s where many companies pay television networks to show their exaggerated or false advertisements. Of course there are honest commercials out there but the majority of them will always be a bit or extremely exaggerated and might even be false. A pro tip would be to look for the extra small paragraphs within the commercial. Chances are there are tons of strings attached to that deal or product.
These ads can lead you to buy the wrong stuff because of their convincing approach. So it is best to remove that TV from your living room to never watch false ads again. Also don’t be dumb shopper. Always do proper research prior to making a purchase. Just because one company has more money to spend on marketing doesn’t always mean that their product is better or provides more value.
Off with biased or inadequate information
The television can be a source of great information and knowledge. However, there are a lot of instances when it provides you with the wrong information from a biased network, company or the inadequacy of facts. As a result, you might make decisions and actions which are derived from that wrong information. For example, a television show presented that a particular country is a nice place to travel.
Little did you know that the show was biased in its presentation because that country wants to improve its tourism. We constantly see this every single time and quite frankly I cannot be mad. In the business world, you never bite the hand that feeds you. Every businessman knows that.
Let’s take for example a news channel. Do you know the person who owns that entire network? I mean the real top, the “eye” of the pyramid on the dollar bill top. If not, do some research to figure it out. Now let’s theorize for a second. If your best friend, family member, or a loved one did something that you wouldn’t want the world to see or talk about, would you allow your own TV network to televise it? 😉