Essay on TELEVISION FOR EDUCATION AND RECREATION

TELEVISION FOR EDUCATION AND RECREATION 

Television has been around in India for over 40 years. Initially, there was slow penetration of television sets in the Indian households and that too, mainly in the big cities. Now, people even in the remote villages have access to television or the first couple of decades, television were broadcast only for a few hours per day by a single national channel, namely Doordershan in the entire country. However, with the advent of Satellite Television over the last ten years or so, television has come into its own in India. There has been a proliferation of the air-waves. More than 100 channels are available in big lies broadcasting round the clock.

Television is a very good medium for recreation. It is like having a cinema house inside your drawing room. Full-length most new pictures are televised regularly and few people Rue to go and see a cinema show. You get games; classical music, dances and other social programs live on the television. Through satellite telecasts of foreign television programs are also available in India. An Indian can see at me what the American and Japanese see in their homes, openings round the world are televised.

 Television is also good for the purpose of education. Lessons are televised for the benefits of school children and en college students. Intricate laboratory experiments and complex operations can be brought home to the science and medical students right in their own homes, so that they can see and learn more easily. Television is also a great means of information. Public men of repute are invited to speak from the television. There are scholars, scientists, politicians and economists to throw light on the important topics of the day. Few people read newspapers but everybody wants to see news of the day on the television because here events take place right before your eyes. So news on television is more popular than news in paper or even news on the radio. Many men and women get news of the day only through television.

As a source of recreation, television appeals to the young and the old men, women and children. It entertains all kinds of people. Television becomes the soothing nerve of the people in this age of hard work and little leisure. Tired of the day’s work, you can recline on the sofa in the drawing room and just switch on the television. You can listen to melodious songs and music, stories and humorous tales, dances and other items of popular interest and everything happens before your eyes, as if you are present in the function, where the audience is limited and only VTP’s are permitted.

Television has become the most popular medium for entertainment in the country. In the big cities where cable television is available, most of the people spend their time in front of television set. Many people especially students and young children are addicted to television and spend far too many hours watching movies, soap operas, music television, games, sports telecasts etc. This is bad as this affects their health, eyesight, studies and general well being. Also many of the songs and advertisements shown on the television axe vulgar and are cause for alarm. The government should censor such programming to prevent moral decay of the society.