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It is almost unbelievable in a day and age when media is so widespread and diverse that there are people who do not expose their children to television. Like all technology, television is a beautiful extension of human creativity and ingenuity. Unfortunately, it also has many negative aspects. There are large numbers of children who would spend hours upon hours watching television instead of playing outside or reading books if parents did not force them from the small screen. The truth is that many children and adults spend far too much time in front of their "boob tubes" as television is extremely addictive and intrusive. Therefore, the negative effects of television more than justify parents who question whether or not they should include television in their children's lives.

Television is a media outlet that not only provides entertainment and educational experiences but acts as a model that helps shape our perception of the world and our behavior. For example, advertisements attempt to train our spending habits so we buy the newest products or shop at the "best" store while violent television encourages aggressive thoughts and feelings that may lead to violent behavior. Furthermore, many shows relentlessly attempt to hold our attention by twisting the meaning of love with sexual escapades that fail to convey real world consequences, thus promoting poor social behavior. Television is so powerful that children crave products sold in packaging which depicts their favorite cartoon characters; my own three year old nephew refers to his colors by the names of the trains on Thomas the Tank Engine.

Furthermore, children's shows are little better than adult shows as their entertainment value seems to outweigh any educational value that they may have. Eventually, all of these shows either die away or turn into gigantic marketing icons that force overpriced toys onto consumers. On the other hand, television content does allow for novel presentations of creative ideas and helps expand literary masterpieces onto a whole new level of experience, thus, encouraging a new audience to engage literature. Meanwhile, news programs provide daily information updates and analysis that viewers otherwise would not have as media allows for the interaction of several analysts to be viewed. Furthermore, documentaries provide excellent sources of information on aspects of the world that most people are unfamiliar with while proving images of that would go unseen by

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