Essay, Research Paper: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

"Time is money, people!"declares the vice-president in charge of finances as he rushes out
the doors of his office building onto the crowded streets of downtown. He is on his way to
an important meeting involving the future of his company. Once in a cab he takes notice of
the traffic and knows that he will be late. Out of his briefcase comes his mobile office:
laptop computer and digital camera connected via modem and cellular phone to the
conference room thirteen blocks away where he will be joining the others shortly. They
can't afford to wait for him. Through video-conferencing they will start the meeting. After
all, time is money.
This business man is among the many others who are trying to compete in the "age
of information" where each day has only twenty-four hours in which one can strive to
become better than before. No one has the time to wait three or four days for a crucial
message to be sent by post to reach it's destination. Solution: e-mail. Six to eight weeks
for delivery? Not if you want to stay on top. Courier services use state of the art
equipment to get your package delivered overnight. Whatever happened to relaxing
Sunday afternoons when we could sit down with a book capable of using words to
describe to us wonderful situations directly out of the author's imagination? Once again
modern technology has a less time consuming alternative. If a picture is worth a thousand
words then what could be better than replacing endless hours of reading with billions of
pictures all crammed into a half hour? In other words, television.
From the perspective of a youth oblivious to the creativity and knowledge inspired
by reading, replacing effort-requiring novels with lazy tube viewing makes perfect sense.
And who could blame them? Modern culture has repeatedly displayed television to the
point where it is expected. For example, there are big screens at Rockefeller Plaza in New
York, in all major sport complexes and in downtown Tokyo. They are a reflection of our
need for visual thrills. We also see televisions in schools and museums as efficient
demonstrators of phenomena otherwise impossible to experience.
The question is whether or not teachers, parents and the media are able to draw
the thin line separating positive moral-building material from destructive behavior
influences.
I believe that the education system has done a fine job at this. Often the best way
to learn a new language is to watch a familiar television program in which the characters
converse in this language. Museums as well deserve a pat on the back. Unless government
grants permit the purchase of multiple microscope and equipment stations, visitors can
find themselves in front of a television set observing microscopic bacteria along with an
anatomic diagram.
The negative side to this controversy is when children are exposed to topics like
violence and sex when they are not yet ready to deal with such adult issues. This
premature exposure causes them as young adults to be desensitized which can lead to
immoral behavior. An exaggerated case of this was demonstrated on an episode of The
Simpsons when the infant daughter Maggie repeatedly attacked her father after viewing
such violence on a cartoon show. As soon as her mother intervened and had the network
change the content of the cartoon, Maggie's behavior immediately changed as well. While
real life parents need not go to such extremes I believe that the most constructive thing to
do would to actively help children decide what and how much television to watch.
Television is a tool: it keeps us informed, it allows for microscopic viewing, it
entertains us, it teaches us, it parents us, it demoralizes us and it's faster than reading.
However not unlike other multi-purpose tools, not every function is right for every job.
Who are we expecting to decide what is proper usage and when? Parents? Educators? The
government? You?