Television: The Plug-In Drug

Marie Winn’s essay "Television: The Plug-In Drug" explains how family life has changed since TVs were installed in basically every home. At first, when television was included into family’s homes, people believed that it would have a positive influence because everyone is coming together and snuggling in front of the TV. Unfortunately the idea of TV as a social activity can´t be applied to the 21^st century. Most homes have more than one TV, so it happens that every family member is watching a different show at a different time. Winn mentions (p.439), that TV does not only affect the child itself, but also other circumstances like “the home, the peer group, the school, the church and culture generally” (p.439). A significant aspect that TV changed is the quality of life: families lose their individuality, which was expressed through common activities like games. Also eating habits are affected. Parents are using television to maintain their private dinner, while the kids are following their daily TV schedule. Winn explains (p.441), that not the TV program is important, but the watching itself. Modern parents think that television is the only way to control kids over a certain amount of time. Maybe it is a great way but it’s also the easiest. Parents should be willing to make compromises when it comes to personal life. Family rituals are also a crucial factor to keep the individuality of a family. Those rituals concern “mealtime, bedtime, illness and holidays” (p. 442). Furthermore Winn points out (p. 443), that television affects the way kids communicate with real people. Since watching TV doesn’t require any eye contact or response, kids seem passive during conversations with real persons. Besides rituals, many families lose the ability to solve conflicts. Television helps to avoid conversations, but only temporarily. Winn explains: “The nature of the family social life during a program could be described as ‘parallel’ rather than interactive (…) (p. 445).” At the end of this essay she also mentions (p. 445), that television is not the only factor for changes in family life, but it is definitely one that we can control.

When people talk about Social Change they often don’t consider television as an important factor. The Internet seems to be much more threatening, but we often don’t realize how TV manipulates children. Food commercials, for example, give kids a wrong perception of what meals are made of. Of course the advertisers are trying to make it sound healthy and natural, but they don’t mention the artificial and chemical ingredients. This wrong perception will be persistent if parents don’t teach their children how to eat right.

Winn, M. (2011). Television: The Plug-In Drug. S. Cohen (Ed) 50 Essays. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's