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This essay was written by me (Erin
Billy) and has 653 words. Even though this essay
is relatively long, I wrote it in under 20 minutes.
Your essay should have 250-500 words.
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Estimated
TOEFL Essay score: 6.0/6.0
Television is undoubtedly one of the most powerful
means of communication in the history of humankind,
rivaled only by such other forms of communication as
the Internet, the telephone, movies, and, of course,
simple, low-tech speech. Television, with its wide availability
and rich media with image and sound, is difficult to
ignore and even seductive in its appeal. Television
is as much a part of our lives as are our meals, work,
or school; studies consistently show that the average
American child spends almost as much time watching television
as she does in school. Furthermore, because television
is so rich in its media, it often requires our full
attention or is more attraction to us than are our daily
lives. Naturally, the more time one spends watching
television, the less time she has with her family and
friends. Thus, we can clearly see why some have claimed
that television has been harmful for communication among
family and friends. However, I believe that, while television
has been somewhat harmful in its effects, it has hardly
"destroyed" communication among family and
friends for most people, although for some, this may
be true.
Most people much prefer spending time with their families
and friends to spending time watching television. Television
is of course an important part of many people's lives,
but most people would gladly choose family and friends
over television were they given the choice. Furthermore,
most educated people are aware of the deleterious effects
of too much television and either avoid excessive time
watching television, or actually do not enjoy it. I,
for example, after a long day at work, would much rather
spend time talking with my wife and playing with my
children than I would watching some unrealistic portrayal
of life on television. For me and my family, our time
together is precious and beautiful, and could never
be replaced or hurt by television.
Furthermore, the effect of television is simply not
so great that it could be said to have "destroyed"
communication among family and friends. Granting that
communication among family and friends in industrialized
countries has decreased in recent years, it might be
tempting to blame this problem on television since its
rise roughly coincided with the decrease in time we
spend with our families. However, I believe this situation
is more likely due to increased pressures relating from
work, school, and the economy. In my case, for example,
I find that my pressures from work are so great that
I must often sacrifice time at home so that I can meet
the challenges of running my own business. Many of my
friends are in similar situations--my best friend, for
example, has just finished law school, which took about
sixty hours a week of his time. In a word, people nowadays
have very little time for anything, but television is
not the cause--it is increased desire to succeed.
In some situations, however, television has surely
contributed to a decrease in communication among family
members. In my childhood in the countryside, I often
saw parents and children watching television for hours
on end, rarely speaking with one another. It seemed
for them that television was a way to escape from their
sad, miserable existence. However, even in this case,
I would say that television merely contributed to the
bad situation, but did not cause it; were television
not existent, surely these people would have found other
escapes, alcohol or gambling, for example. In other
words, people always find a way to do what they want
to do.
In short, I do not believe that television has destroyed
or even harmed interpersonal communication among most
people. Most people realize that television is merely
a temporary diversion and do not use it to replace interpersonal
communication. I believe that the damage attributed
to television is greatly exaggerated and that such damage
is most likely attributable to other more powerful social
factors.
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