Television Literacy: Can Education Be Accomplished Through TV Problems with kids and television have existed since the invention of this media instrument. For example, parents are concernedwith the number of hours children spend in front of the television, as well as the amount of violence represented in differentprograms. Most important, parents are speculating as to what educational value TV actually has.People have always wondered about effects television could have on individuals. By the late 1980 s, an increasingly deregulatedbroadcasting industry had achieved some powerful victories over education. Shows with a greater amount of controversial subjectmatter started to air. Censorship was decreased a great deal. On average, children between the ages of six and twelve arewatching 20 to 28 hours of television a week, which almost equals the 35-40 hours kids spend in school. Some claim, however, thatTV has begun to dominate more than just time.Television projects the characteristics of the cultural environment surrounding it. People like David Marc believe television "leavesbehind a body of dreams that is, to a large extent, the culture we live in," and he concludes that television, not education, is the"most effective purveyor of language, image, and narrative in American culture." (1)However, others continue to stress the "ultimate effect" television has on education. It is recognized by Leon Botstein that "thesimplification and standardization of language" controls the extent of expression and thought. Because of this, "eloquence and evenoriginality, from the perspective of the classroom" have become insignificant. (3)It is the opinion of the Center for Educational Priorities that by the 1990 s, television had teamed with popular culture to downplayeducation. Examples of this can be seen in shows like Beavis and Butthead. It is claimed that anti-intellectualism has reached afrightening level as teachers have begun to confront a te...
