In the Nielson survey of American viewers the average American family watched seven hours of television a day. This sounds shocking, until you realize that there are approximately 4.5 people per family. If you divide the seven hours of television viewing per person, then the hours a day watched per person comes out to roughly 1.55 hours. That’s not so shocking, is it? Also, obviously technology has advanced in the past several hundred years. We have electric stoves and lights. We drive cars instead of horse carriages.

Television can be a problem for some, just like alcohol or gambling, or even caffeine or sugar. It’s not a big enough problem to argue about, though. I’ve yet to hear of the Television Addicts Anonymous group. Perhaps they are out there hiding. As long as we go out occasionally and mingle with real human beings, then I see no problem. Sitting on the couch a few hours a week is a luxury. If you’re a busy person then you can relate. Being able to put your feet up is nice. Moral of the story: play with your kids so they don’t choose the television set over you, oh, and be social. We don’t want a bunch of television heads.

Television does not “absorb it’s viewers the way drugs absorb it’s users.” Most people I know can get up after a show is over and move on to something else. Drug addicts have to have a fix every few days or even hours. I don’t know too many people who watch television every few hours. A lot of the people I know only watch it a few days a week.

Hamil also argues that television makes us passive

Some topics in this essay:
Crack Box, Michigan University, Addicts Anonymous, Sesame Street, History Channel, watching television, Pete Hamill’s, seven television, people watch, passive asocial, television people, watch television,