Opinion

One of the classes I am required to take at Troy University to fufill my major in Communications is called "Advanced Technologies in Journalism". It's a Monday/Wednesday/Friday class, and it only is 50 minutes long! The classroom is filled with Mac computers, and each student is assigned their own computer, and the main goal for the semester is to be able to know how to create and maintain a website, and effectively communicate with people through modern technology. You know you live in the 21st century when the only school supply you have to bring to class is a pair of headphones! Along with learning how to make a website, we are required to blog each week. This week's topic is "opinions". Each student must blog about their opinion of something...anything...and give back-up evidence to support that formed opinion.

After thinking about what I wanted to take a stance on (there is so much I could choose from), one thing came to mind: a topic we recently discussed in my Rhetorical Communication Theory class. Eccessive television watching can negatively impact your health and psychological well being. An article was written by Jon Hammermeister and Barbara Brock in 2005 entitled "Life Without TV?", where these researchers observed and studied the negative affects of eccessive TV watching. They did intense polling and surveying and came up with some fascinating results. One that stood out to me was the amount of TV an average American watches a day. By the time the average person reaches the age of 70, he or she will have spent the equivalent to 7 to 10 YEARS watching television. What?! While there are some educational shows and informative networks that benefit society, the majority of television is not so wholesome. Spending hours upon hours a day wasting away in front of a television is probably the leading cause of America's obesity issue. Given that violence, sexuality, and body image are pervasive messages that come from watching TV, it is not surprising that a variety of negative health effects have been associated with excessive TV viewing. After studying this scholarly journal "Life Without TV", my opinion is that TV is the biggest way we could ever choose to waste our time. Not only is God the ultimate giver, but He has given us a life and our life has one purpose: to know Him and make Him known. Now, I realize that not EVERY single detail of our life will match that purpose perfectly, but watching television for hours on end certainly does not seem to reflect His perfect plan for our lives. Statistics and studies have shown that those that watch two or more hours of TV a day are more likely one day going to be smokers, have weight problems or body issues, more likely to be lonely, depressed, anti-social, have low self esteem, and are more likely to feel hopeless.

I feel like I could continue for pages about the evidence revealed in this scholarly study, and continue to give reasons why I have formed my opinion about TV watching, but this assignment for school has a limit on each blog post. What is YOUR opinion?