- Ariel Gore, USA (1970- )
I.
Literal Comprehension
Context: This essay is written by
Ariel Gore (1970- ), USA, a poor single mother with a daughter. She has
expressed her ideas in favour of TV in this essay. This is actually her
resentment expressed in the form of an essay.
The big companies have shifted the
job market to the developing countries. The employees are underpaid, and the
working single mothers do not get child-care assistance. But the cost of living
is very high. On this context, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has
suggested the parents that they should not allow their children below 2 to
watch television.
According to the AAP guidelines, TV is
not helpful for the early brain development of the children because it deprives
them of the chance for the direct interactions with parents and other
significant caregivers. Therefore, exposing young children to television
programmes should be discouraged.
As a single mother, the writer doesn’t
agree with the pediatricians. She
believes that TV can be a helpful electronic baby-sitter or a co-parent. The
writer’s mother and her friends stayed at home and provided communal care to
their children because they were poor and could not afford TV. But she cannot
do so. She also doesn’t agree with the idea that TV watching kids cannot
interact with their parents or caregivers. She thinks that instead of attacking
shows that try to help children, the pediatricians should warn parents that
they not watch programmes made for adults when the children are in the room.
Like the writer, some entertainment companies that produce programmes and
cartoons for the children have criticized the AAP guidelines saying it’s an
effort to picking on them while others have welcomed them as an encouragement
for the parents to spend more time bonding and playing with the children.
The writer thinks that better
educational programmes for the children should be broadcast on TV and the
culture of war and the media’s glorification of violence should be ended. The
American government should provide salaries for stay-at-home moms and
living-wage jobs for the career women.
II.
Interpretation
The
main point of this essay is that TV should be used for the benefit of the
children. The child-friendly and educational programmes should be promoted
while decreasing the number and trend of glorifying violence and war on TV.
Parents should spend more time with their children and they shouldn’t be
allowed to hang on with TV day and night. If used rationally, TV can be a good
part of parenting.
III.
Critical Thinking
I agree with the writer that TV can
never be so much harmful for the children if used properly by the parents. I
also agree with her that there is a dire need of stopping the glorification of
violence and war on TV screens, but is it going to happen anyway? Day by day, I
see, the number of such programmes is increasing. The modern parents are busy
and TV has become a means for escaping of their parental responsibility of
spending time with their children. I don’t think parents are ever going to
think in the way as the writer has.
IV.
Assimilation
Now I know why TVs are not going to
be thrown out of our houses at least in the near future. Parents, willingly or
unwillingly, are enforced to depend on TV sets for baby-sitting. But I’m sure
most of them are unaware of the bad effects of letting their children watch TV
programmes that basically glorify sex and violence.
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