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<title> A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT TELEVISION </title>
My feelings towards television are very hard to describe but probably they consist of some kind of love-hatred. I can point out many good things about television but there are certainly more disadvantageous things to say. It was not until I was an adult with children of my own that I started to look upon television with critical eyes.
	I grew up during the 1960s and I remember when we didn't have any television set in our home. I often listened to the radio and when I think about how the radio looked like, a rather big piece of furniture with wooden sides and big white knobs on the front, it's strange that it took place only forty years ago. One day my father came home with our first television set and we thought it was some kind of wonder happening to us. They sent programmes especially made for children. There was only one channel and I tried to watch everything until it was time to go to bed. Sometimes the programmes gave me nightmares but I was too curious to stop seeing when the film became gruesome or frightening. My parents would of course have stopped me if they had new but they were often looking after my two little brothers.
	People were afraid even then of the bad influence television could cause but the amount of programmes was very limited and people had to find other occupations or distractions elsewhere.
	Nowadays people only a few years younger than me were born into this media world concentrated around television. Television is so normal and natural that people don't question it enough. Is watching television the best we can do when we have nothing to do? Most people answer no to that question but nevertheless many of them are likely to sit in front of the television watching programme after programme probably without asking themselves: Is this a good or a bad programme? Television can give us a lot of knowledge but most of all it gives us entertainment and distraction. People need that, especially as many of us are leading very busy lives and have filled schedules. The easiest way is of course to press the on-button and watch whatever programme they are giving. There are often a lot of channels available but that's no consolation, it really scares me. Probably the viewer will think that some programme is good enough and therefor continues to watch and the alternative to do something else disappears. That is the big problem: it's too easy. With no effort from the viewer's side he or she can just consume what is showed on the screen.
	What scares me the most is the harmful effect the television watching must have on children. From the moment they are able to sit many parents use television as a babysitter. It's very tempting to do so and unfortunately I'm no exception. Again, it's too easy! When my children had nothing to do or couldn't think of anything, they came and asked me. Maybe I had to clean up or cook or I just wanted to be alone and it was very easy to suggest television or video. It's much harder to propose other activities, which cause no bother for and no interference from the parent. Television and also video films, computer and television games are a part of the everyday life of my children. They are loosing their creativeness. It requires more efforts and more creativity to play outdoor or indoor games, to read books or to draw pictures. My children are not worse than others but this modern life makes them more passive and less ingenious than children were before, at least from what I remember from my own childhood.
Human beings are lazy creatures and we want to be sure to get something in return if we make efforts. Sometimes one has to work hard for a long time before one gets the reward. Then the reward will be of great satisfactory and pleasure. This is hard for children to understand and therefor it's very important to tell them this irrefutable truth.
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