Things To Consider Today

Television And Radio In Our Lives  

When I was growing up, my family did not get a television set until I was in the third grade. At that time it was strictly black-and-white television and only one channel was available in our area. You had to mount an antenna on top of your house and point it in the right direction to get good reception. Eventually roof antennas were replaced by v shaped antennas that sat directly on the television set itself. With time more channels became available and color was introduced. Eventually cable television was available. Programming greatly expanded and so did audience size. The latest change is switching from analog signals to digital signals. There have been changes in television sets themselves. They have become more sophisticated and larger. They have flat screens with higher definition resolution and lots of extra features.

Similar things could be said about radio. It has evolved from a few local stations to many am and fm stations available in most areas. There is a larger variety of specialized programming available today. One difference between radio and television used to be that it was easier to take radio with you outside the home. It was available in your car and through portable radios you could take your radio anywhere. Now even this distinction is being erased due to television being available in more places outside of the home.

The real question is what has all this advancement in radio and television done for us? Both have evolved into more powerful mediums of communication and entertainment. The general public is using them more and more, which means they are reaching more people. They have become necessities of life and they use up a greater portion of our time. They have gained influence in the lives of people. Radio had been a tremendous means of communication, but when television came, the impact became even greater. Both offer lots of options including music, news and weather, sports coverage, talk shows, educational programs, and home entertainment.  

Maybe we should all stand back and ask ourselves what impact do these two mediums have on our individual lives. What messages or information are you receiving through radio and television? What is the impact on you of these two mediums? How much time per week do you spend listening to radio or watching television? What do you listen to, or what do you watch? Answers to these type of questions will reveal a lot about your tastes, interests, and how much you value your time.

I consider both radio and television as outside influences coming into my life. I say this because with each one, someone else is controlling the programming. They decide what is broadcast and when. They dictate which geographical areas receive which stations and the programming for those stations. Your choice is which stations you choose to utilize and when. The other choice is how much you use either radio and television, and under what circumstances you choose to do so. For example most of your television may be watched at home, but radio is utilized both at home and in the car and maybe even at work.

I value my mental time, and monitor what I think about and how I feel. The right type and amount of radio and television can help me. The wrong type, and too much of either medium can work against me. For this reason I’m very selective and place limits or boundaries on the types of radio and television programming permitted in my life and the quantity also. For example, there are certain types of music I like better than others and spend time listening to only these. There are certain types of information that are more useful or educational for me, so I seek after these. I would advise you to place limits on radio and television too.

To illustrate my point further, let me share a personal experience. Several months ago my wife and I decided to try an experiment. We disconnected the cable television service for our home. What we found out was we gained more free time and had one last bill to pay. Yes, even though television when properly monitored and limited had some good programming, that programming is not as valuable as your personal mental time being focused on things that you want to think about and do. Television time can rob a married couple of sharing experiences with one another. Television can pull you away from reading. This is important because with television the program goes on without the ability to stop it (unless it’s been recorded) and think about what is being said or done. But with reading material, you can pause, think about what you just read, or go back and reread some of the material again. There’s more opportunity to meditate with reading then with watching television or listening to the radio.

Another thing I’ve learned is that even with something like good music, which I have on CD’s, it’s best to listen to it when you’re truly listening more than just having it as background music. For this reason I don’t play it when I am thinking seriously about a topic or working or talking with another individual. Even when driving a car, a lot of the time there is no music playing in the cd player. I’m thinking, and paying attention to the road. Also, I gave up on radio stations themselves along long time ago because I’m not interested in the news or weather updates, nor all the advertisements. With these self-imposed limits, there is more peace and quiet, and time to think when I drive the car without distractions from the outside world coming into an environment that I can control. How about you, what do you do in your car?

As an adult, think about the impact of radio and television on your life. What are some of the useful ways that you use radio and television and under what circumstances ? For example, when do you turn on your favorite type of music and just relax for a while listening to it? Perhaps you need to change or upgrade some of the types of music you listen to regularly. The same thing could be asked about the type of programs on radio and television that you hear or watch. Perhaps you need to reduce the hours per week spent on these things. Remember, you want to help yourself and you need some peace of mind and mental time to do this. Don’t let television and radio rob you of this time.

If you’re a parent, consider the impact of radio and television on your kids. To assist you, let’s fast forward from my childhood to young children today. I have a grandson who began to use television between the age of one and two. He was fascinated by the movement of the cartoon figures and all the colors on the television screen. Even at this young age, you could pick up or identify the types of things he was beginning to like or desire. He, like so many young children today, will be trapped in the television habit for the rest of his life. It is unfortunate but true that some parents today use television as part of their day-care strategy. In other words, they use the television set to keep the kid entertained so the parent doesn’t have to spend as much time actually playing with the child or doing something creative with him.

These young people today will have so many choices through radio and television, not to mention the Internet, that they’ll have a hard time making good selections. This is where parental guidance comes in. Help them to select good types of music and worthwhile programs. Limit the amount of time they spend with both radio and television in your home. Get them involved in real life activities and not in the passive activities of listening to a radio or watching a television set. They will grow and develop faster, and in a more well-rounded way if this is done.

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Copyright  2008     Leland Pulley