Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What does this have to do with household size? The graphic you posted is "household TV viewing". Your TV is on or it isn't! One or more people are watching it. That's what that graphic shows, at least as I interpret it.
What does this have to do with household size? The graphic you posted is "household TV viewing". Your TV is on or it isn't! One or more people are watching it. That's what that graphic shows, at least as I interpret it.
Yes but it goes by household. How much the *household* is viewing the tv. It's different then the average person watching TV. As the other link shows the average american watches TV for 4 hours, but in the same link it has a household viewing statistic too which was basically 7 hours, the same as the chart i posted. It means that if you walk into a US household the odds are much higher that somebody at that time will be watching TV whether its the parent or the child. In japan or the other countries its less likely you will see people watching TV, and when they are it's mostly together, or at a certain time (keep in mind japanese household is slightly larger on average).
What it's trying to show is that average US household doesnt control the TV viewing in it's house, specifically the children.
Okay, so what IS it about TV that makes it so 'bad'?
Is it the idea that we're sitting instead of being active? Alternatives like reading, knitting, sewing, boardgames, and our computers, all require sitting, too. And after working all day long, the idea of seeking exercise for the next 4 to 6 hrs is the last thing I want to do.
Is it the idea that we're watching 'garbage'? Again, after having to think on the job all day long, I sometimes welcome the entertainment offerings of tv. I have only a few shows that I really enjoy, but I rent movies, too. However, not everything in television is 'garbage'. There are programs and channels that are educational. Some people choose their news this way over their local newspaper (and I happen to hate Portland's).
I think children spend a lot more time on their video games than tv viewing.
I'm going off the computer for awhile now to go sit and put a photo album together. Then I'll hit the treadmill afterwards.
Someone said it typified American culture. Maybe it does. BTW, Maki-Chan, we had a Japanese exchange student, age 16, one summer who liked to watch Sesame Street with my kids, who were 4 and 7 at the time. I think I remember that she said they had Sesame St. in Japan. This is hardly a show one would watch as a family. I must admit, I used it sometimes as a babysitter! (While working around the house; I didn't leave my kids home alone!)
Someone said it typified American culture. Maybe it does. BTW, Maki-Chan, we had a Japanese exchange student, age 16, one summer who liked to watch Sesame Street with my kids, who were 4 and 7 at the time. I think I remember that she said they had Sesame St. in Japan. This is hardly a show one would watch as a family. I must admit, I used it sometimes as a babysitter! (While working around the house; I didn't leave my kids home alone!)
I watched sesame street a few times when i was small but not that much. And japanese rarely have a TV in their kids rooms. Most of the TV japanese children watch is with their parents (usualy after dinner) or in the living room when their mom is around (japanese have a much higher amount of "housemom" than US). When theyre older (teen +) most japanese just watch it with their family in the afternoon. In japan school is a bit longer than US and most kids also go to"after school" for homework/studying.
I watched sesame street a few times when i was small but not that much. And japanese rarely have a TV in their kids rooms. Most of the TV japanese children watch is with their parents (usualy after dinner) or in the living room when their mom is around (japanese have a much higher amount of "housemom" than US). When theyre older (teen +) most japanese just watch it with their family in the afternoon. In japan school is a bit longer than US and most kids also go to"after school" for homework/studying.
That's a good thing. My kids didn't have TVs in their rooms, either. There is some research that kids with TVs in their rooms have a higher rate of obestiy. So Japanese moms use the TV for a babysitter (or I should say "Mother's Helper"), too!
Things are quite different from decades before, too. Although most moms didn't work outside the home when I was little, there was a lot more trust in children playing outdoors. Predators were around then, too (in fact, my own mother was paranoid of them) but there were a lot less "people" back then and the odds of assurety was greater.
Today, so many horrid things happen that we can feel uneasy just letting our little ones play in the back yard. Sad, isn't it? Therefore, the advent of video games, and more children's show, came at a good time. I used to get annoyed at my daughter for glue'ing herself to the tube so much, but at least I knew where she was.
Hey right now im living in Orlando (for university but i lived in japan my entire life just been in US 1 and a half years), but i might be moving to north atlanta suburbs. Many people told me the culture there is different, can anybody tell me about the different regional cultures, in particular why the southern one is different then say the "mainstream" one?
One can not compare today's minds to the free thinkers such as Ben Franklin that existed many, many years ago. America is no longer like that. America isn't anything like it was in the 1940's or the 1960's. Today's America really consists of a bunch of rats in a maze who are told where to go by roughly 400 large corporations. Americans are druggies. They are addicted to the television. And one can not compare other country's viewing material to that of America's. There is no comparison, especially when it comes to brain-dead commercials that repeat themselves 3 or 4 times in a 30 second frame to pound their advertisement home into your subconscious.
I really don't respect roughly 40-60% of Americans because they don't take care of themselves on any level whether it be physically, spiritually (no religion needed for this), or mentally. I don't think that I am smarter than 80% of Americans out there but you really have to wonder where about 80% of the population's head is at. Americans (mostly not all) are secluded and do not have a world/human viewpoint because the controlled viewing material that they have doesn't tell them about those types of things. If you think about it, how many Americans base their daily conversations, or their linguistic abilities, on what they hear and see from the radio or television opposed to the dictionary or what they see and hear introspectively? I could be totally wrong, but I honsetly believe that many americans are selfish and rough around the edges. I won't even bring up Morals...especially, compared to countries like Japan or Australia.
Last edited by At1WithNature; 02-09-2009 at 08:38 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
