Final Draft: Watch T.V and Wear My Pants

In today’s modern world televisions are everywhere from airports to the corner of the average household living room. They provide access to entertainment, news, politics, religious sermons, and so much more. Despite this, or rather because of it, televisions can cause major problems especially for students. Although television can be informative and relaxing, an increase in television watching is deleterious to study habits because it takes up free time, promotes procrastination, and is not intellectually stimulating.

For the average student, free time can be hard to come by because one must divide their day between school, family, friends, and hobbies. The average television show ranges from half an hour to an hour. Spending one or more hours a day watching television adds up and decreases ones free time which also decreases ones efficiency at everyday tasks because of the constraint on time. The more television one watches the less time they have in their day. Students need to study a substantial amount each day in order to keep up in their classes and with their work load. Therefore, the more television one watches the less time one has to study which can cause a student to develop inefficient study habits to compensate for the decrease in their free time. Poor study habits, such as cramming at the last minutes and rushing through assignments, will cause a student to receive lower grades because they do not have enough time to fully take in the material and put in all the effort an assignment requires. Poor study habits also greatly increase stress and an increase in stress leads to a decline in ones general well-being. To maintain health and academic standing, a student needs free time to study and relax.

Another effect of watching television is television’s capacity as an outlet for procrastination. Endless hours can be spent in front of the television effortlessly. The tendency to do this increases when one is trying to avoid certain tasks, like studying, exercising, big projects, and cleaning. Also the amount of media a single television contains can keep a person engaged for prolonged periods of time. All one has to do it press a button and the channel will change providing more for them to watch without needing to extend any real effort whatsoever. This means that the more channels a television has the greater the amount of time can be spent watching it. Procrastination can have a crippling effect on productivity, and a television will only increase ones procrastination. Students who procrastinate do not have enough time to study and complete assignments. Procrastinating will create a circular damaging effect on a students study habits. The student will put off studying by procrastinating which will cause them to fall behind. The circular effect of this is when the student procrastinates more because they are behind and traps themselves into a cycle of procrastination. Students who want to keep up with their course work and studying need to limit the time they spend watching television and procrastinating.

One of the greatest adversaries students face from increasing the amount of television they watch is that television is not intellectually stimulating. Despite television’s ability to provide information, watching a television requires minimal effort and cognition. Unlike reading and critical thinking, watching television causes a person to become apathetic and even lazy. Student need to keep their minds active and prepped for learning; this is hindered by watching television because the state a television leaves ones mind in makes it especially hard to focus on studying and learning. To effectively study one needs to be able to focus their attention and concentrate. In contrast, one does not need to focus in-depth attention when watching television or use conscientious thought. Regular television watching impedes a student’s ability to learn because of the diminishing effect it has on ones mental capacity.

Student need to study. Televisions, despite the few redeeming qualities they posses, have a negative effect on studying and study habits. Increasing the amount of television one watches will directly effect ones study habits, grades, and overall well being. The more television one chooses to watch will cause a decrease in their free time, an increase in their procrastination and a decrease in their intellectual capacity. Being a good student and active learner requires one to maintain their intellectual standing and devote an extensive amount of time to studying. The habits and behaviors acquired from television watching leave a student with poor study habits.