nelsonic
commented
4 years ago “In its easy provision of relaxation and escape, television can be beneficial in limited doses. Yet when the habit interferes with the ability to grow, to learn new things, to lead an active life, then it does constitute a kind of dependence and should be taken seriously." ~ Television Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor ~ Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Growing up we briefly had a TV (because my father, a Journalist, liked to watch the evening news). When my father was not at home - he worked 80+h weeks including many Saturdays - we (the children) would watch hours of TV after school and on weekends.
My favourite cartoons included TMNT, Transformers, He-Man, Inspector Gadget and ThunderCats. My sister watched shows like Care Bears and My Little Pony and later live action shows like Full House, Who's the Boss?, Saved by the Bell and yes, [Baywatch]() ... Not going to lie, while I was subjected to the shows typically targeted at girls (back when birth gender normative targeting was a thing), I did like them too! I think it was the entertainment and distraction more than anything else. By the time Mom decided to get rid of the TV we were watching programs like MacGyver, The A-Team, Knight Rider. Point is: we watched a lot of TV and Mom decided it was both influencing us negatively.
TV addiction is real. Thankfully I grew up from age 11 to 18 without one so I had lots of time for other pursuits. But I've seen people who watch TV all day and cannot live without it. 📺
tbc.
https://www.michaeldpollock.com/how-i-overcame-tv-addiction