Five Paragraph Essay Example

Carolyn McK
Miss McK
Academic Writing
30 August 2012

Why Every Child Should Watch TV

In the 1950s, television provided a useful tool for broadcasting news bulletins and entertainment. In the 1960s, Americans had the opportunity to see news bulletins that involved real footage from the ghastly Vietnam War. But television has progressed a great deal since then. In the late 1990s, television introduced Americans to what it affectionately called “reality” with the hit show “Survivor.” Ever since, any willing mind has been able to access a wide world of “reality.” Children should be encouraged to watch as much television as possible, for it prevents cancer, discourages excessive imagination, and encourages a broad knowledge base.
If in the sun for too long, the skin is at risk of developing cancerous cells called melanoma. As the earth’s temperature increases from a lack of ozone, UV rays become ever more powerful and harmful. If melanoma is not removed promptly, it is a deadly problem. The television can help children to avoid the damage in the first place by keeping them indoors, in dimly-lit areas, where screen-viewing is optimal.

 Television can also reduce the risk of involvement in hazardous activities. For instance, before the television, and in outlying areas without access to television shows, it has been reported that children would create and enact their own games. The first real harm of this is that thinking of one’s own games and entertainment is a mental exercise: the toll is unfathomable. Playing games of one’s own (indeed, playing games at all) is taxing on the mind and often the body. By the end of the day, one who has been engaged in such play is quite worn out. The second trouble with creating one’s own games is the potential for risk to life and limb. What if an especially eager child takes it upon himself to invent a game called “birds,” and plays on the roof? He will most likely meet his demise. What if an enterprising child discovers that in order to accomplish his aim of imagination, he needs to design and build a treehouse? This is most inconvenient for the parent, who has to supply the necessary tools and support for such an endeavor. What is more, should the child endeavor to set up, say, a lemonade stand, some unfortunate adult would have to teach the child how to make lemonade, collect money, give change, wash glasses, and spend whatever profits wisely (though there most likely are none, what with the overhead). All told, this becomes an extraordinary effort on the part of the adult, not just the child, let alone the likelihood that the child is making himself a nuisance to the neighborhood.

Finally, through television, a child may gain knowledge regarding every aspect of the world. If a child wants to learn about giant squid, she may turn to Animal Planet. If a child wants to learn about indigenous swamp-dwellers of the Florida Keys, she may turn to the Discovery Channel. If a child wants to learn to bake cakes, she may go to the Food Network. The television provides a veritable buffet for the eager sponge that is the young mind. And adults certainly need no longer discuss “the birds and the bees” with their children, for that curriculum is already built into most family shows.

Owning a television should be prerequisite to having children, for all the benefits it provides. However, if one still has reservations regarding the benefits of television on young minds, one might begin with a single show (e.g. Sesame Street, or Caillou), and work one’s way up through the day’s programming, until one is able to live comfortably with merely a full fridge and a remote control.