Speech writing-Lucy

What does T.V do to our mind?

Watching television is making NZ an unhealthy nation. In a study of 50 people, half under 25 and the rest over 55. The subjects were asked to fill out a questionnaire about;  the colour of their dreams, the contendeness with their dreams and the colour of their televisions as a child. Then the subjects were asked to keep a dream diary. Researchers found that while hardly any of the under 25's dreamed in black and white, around 4% did, a quarter of the older than 55 group did. That is the people that grew up with black and white televisions.

Since television, especially children's tv, is lightning fast and full of stimuli, it isn't outlandish to think that a persons brain becomes adjusted to the speed over time. When a teacher can't supply his or hers lectures with dinosaurs or explosions, child's television altered attention span may become so deprived that the child cannot stay focused.

Have you ever been in that situation that you have been watching tv and your parents have been yelling at you but you simply can't hear them. This is because television makes your brain go into a hypnotic state within the first few minutes of viewing. The more time you spend watching tv also makes unable to analyse information as critically anymore. A New Zealand study found that the more time you spend watching tv as a toddler leads to higher possibility of dropping out of school later in life.

Television can also become addictive. It can reduce your higher brain functions and your brain activity is higher when you are asleep than it is when you are watching tv. And as said before it can shorten your attention span. According to a survey carried out by the ministry of information and research of civic learning and engagement, 25.7% of young people aged between 15 and 25 years old and 49.7% of people aged 25 years and older, watch television for 7 days a week.

There are ways you can reverse the damaging effects on the brain. Research shows that reading for 30-60 minutes  day can stenghthen your brain. Meditation can also help because it can improve the function of the frontal lobe allowing you to concentrate better. It also helps to reduce the amount of tv you are watching per week. On average, People are watching 4 to 5 hours a day which causes these damages to the brain. What happens is the brains that the frontal lobe- our most sophisticated control system, responsible for organizing, planning, and sequencing behavior for self control, moral judgement and attention is completely subdued when watching tv.

So if you parents are looking for a good punishment, take their tv away because not only does it increase the chance to go outside and be active, but also it can help make the brain stronger.