Education and Television

A secondary education teacher claims that television can help in the education to children and youngsters. He affirms that youngsters should watch some popular series and they should discuss them with their parents, because, as he says, these series pose important philosophical issues.

I wonder if this teacher of philosophy knows what programmes are shown at prime time every evening and every week end.

I have watched television in several European countries to see that in every of these countries, television is crap.

Television as an invention that can reach everybody could be a good means for culture and education, but the sad fact is that it is not.  

Television is a huge business to promote consumerism with its countless commercials on all sort of products and  brands.  

If one only watches the news, one is likely to be an ignorant on what it is happening and most important on why it is happening, because they pass on the news fast, without doing a mere analyses on them.

These days television has proved to be “the perfect child minder” as it does the job for free and keeps the children well entertained.

For what I have read the latest events that have taken place in England have a lot to do with the failure of education and a lot of television watched day in and day out. It isn´t a political revolt against high unemployment and lack of opportunities.

What education institutions should do together with teachers and parents is to promote readership of books and newspapers at an early age.

How many of these youngsters who ransacked stores and create chaos in the streets have read Shakespeare and have enjoyed him?

If there are few of them who have, they must be this tiny minority that in fact thinks he is a bore and “had to study him” for exam papers.

The education institutions should revise what it is being taught at shools and how it is being taught.

On the other hand, taking into account what I have seen and exerimented, most parents seem to have abandoned their educative role with their children.

I haven´t seen many taking  their children to read books for enjoyment and education. I haven´t seen many teaching them how to read a newspaper and I haven´t seen many taking their children to watch a play, to go to a concert or to visit a museum. If many parents limit themselves to provide with few basic things such a house, food and the like, then, we aren´t going to be surprised that they turn into hooligans.

What we learn (or not learn) at an early age will decide our future lives as adults. That is fr sure.