TV, Computer, and Video Games: Are They Good or Bad?

Is watching Spongebob, Squidward, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs bolt around the underwater society they inhabit in their television show poisoning the minds of our youth, or instead enriching thier imagination?

I remember my mother always chastising me for watching TV on Saturday afternoons:

"Go outside and play ball," she would shout at me from the upstairs. In a world of continuously developing technology, however, would a child benefit more from tossing around a ball, or admiring and studying the current state of technology through video games and television? I, personally, would much more like to see children exposed to culture through telvision networks such as the History Channel or any one of the numerous news networks scattered throughout the 1000+ channels. It might be time to get real, Moms and Dads: your children aren't learning as much playing ball!

Don't get me wrong! I'm simply trying to expland what you may see as benefical for yourself or your children. While many of our teachers and didactic friends may argue that video games and television simply waste brain power, think of how well the two stimulate the brain...

If you think about it, not only are today's young people learning about and absorbing moral and idealistic responsibilties, but also increasing their ability to contemplate on what others might consider impossible. Remember Back to the Future Two? When the people of 1989 saw Marty Mcfly travel to 2015, where the common people utlized technology such as video-conferencing? A person can't help but wonder whether or not the people who came up with Skype, Oovoo, Chatroulette, and other video conferencing technology may have drawn inspiration from this themselves! Perhaps now, if we let the youth watch movies such as TRON: Legacy, they'll in turn be able to recreate the "Tron" technology the same video-conferencing came to be.

Some games and television shows don't always lead to the next technological advancement, to be sure, but even through watching a simple cartoon there must be purpose, no? Sometimes, I think we fail to see the little things behind these seemingly useless shows and games. If nothing else, they expand our youths imagination, encouraging them to think and be the future thinkers and artists of the upcoming generation. Nothing to be ashamed of! Don't be so quick to turn off that TV, Xbox, or Playstation... Let good ol' Spongebob teach the kid something!