by Tiffany Steele

Created on: May 09, 2008

The Miriam Webster Dictionary defines obsession as persistent disturbing
preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling.

I think it is fair to say that American society is preoccupied with
media-related entertainment. Some signs of this include:

1. TV as addiction. Instead of watching a certain favorite show or
news, we automatically turn the TV on when we're bored. And it can't be just any

TV. We're constantly searching for bigger, wider screens that resemble a
small theater screen.

2. Email has replaced postage stamps - We no longer take much time to
write a letter or send a personal card even to family. Instead, we use
email as a primary method of communication.

3. Cellphones aren't just used for talking. Increasingly, new
entertainment features have been added such as a built-in camara, web,
video games, etc. And texting has become an entertainment in itself.

4. Colleges now offer online classes, eliminating the need as well as
the benefits of social interaction. And, even in grammar schools, video
presentations now accompany teaching.

5. Teenagers used to have diaries. Now they have Internet blogs and
pages on myspace. Instead of a private recording of their feelings,
these sites are technology's newest way to socialize.

6. Dating is now done online. Strangers present glamorous photos and
thrilling made-up lives in order to interest other equally unknown
cyberspace women or men. Instant Messaging and chatrooms have created
the illusion that we are actually involved in real relationships.

7. TV executives now offer shows on youtube, while some shows are now
exclusively seen via a computer.

8. Churches now have large screens set up with visual images and
scrolling words of prayers and hymns used.

9. Politicians are no longer content to meet voters in person. Having
websites appears to be the newest way to talk to the public along with
strategic TV ads.

10. The moast disturbing sign of our obsession with media involves
children who no longer read for pleasure or talk to their parents over
dinner. Instead, they're texting their friends, using the computer to
find websites that offer essay writing, watching hours of TV and
listening to CD's.

These are just a small number of ways in which media has taken over our
lives. We have in it us to stop this vicious cycle, to slow down and
reconnect with ourselves and other people through good old-fashioned
one-on-one communication. We owe it to our children to teach them that
these skills are important. If we don't, then we are doomed to become a
nation of robots, programed by technology and lacking humanity.

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