Television as Inhibitor

Nowadays, television is the main media of communication for almost every people in our country. There is not other media that can equal television in the number of spectator. This condition is happened because television is an audio visual media. Television can show event, entertainment, news, or fantasy that is not reached by other media. Even though television offers lots of information, I believe that television gives bad influence to people especially for children and adolescent. This is because television can inhibit the socialization skill and makes intelligence and mentality of children and adolescent become less.

First, television can inhibit the socialization skill of children and adolescent. A research two years ago found that children and adolescent watch television 68 hours a week. This number means that children and adolescent would prefer to spend their time by watching television rather than playing with their friends. As a result, they will grow with lack of communication. Although some people say that television gives the way of communication, but the communication there is passive. Children need to practice the way of communication in a real world. They can do it by talking and socialize with other people. Because of television, their socialization time become less. This condition is bad for their characteristic growth. Children and adult can grow become individualism people because of lack socialization.

Second, television makes intelligence and mentality of children and adolescent become less. At this moment, almost 70 % television program in Indonesia is drama, not an educate program. Most of drama show sex exploitation, toughness, mystical, consumerism and hedonism culture, and sexual or profession insulting. This minim education quality programs give bad influence to people who don’t have strong principle, at this case are children and adolescent. At normal adolescence, more intensity of watching toughness make their activity of thinking, studying, making a judgment, and emotion control in brain become less. At childhood, the influence of television of children is more susceptible. Children have weak position of television program because they are difficult in differentiate the good or bad thing and don’t have value limited. So everything watched by them will be believed as a fittingness. This condition is very dangerous, consider that children spend 68 hours a week for watching television, the bad program in television will reduce their intelligent and mentality.

From the facts and argumentation above, it is clear that television gives bad influence to children and adolescent. Even though television is great media, television can inhibit the socialization skill of children and adolescent and makes their intelligence and mentality become less.