Negative Impact of Television Viewing on Academic Achievements of Students: A Case Study of Subhash Nagar

Abstract

Watching Television has been ingrained as part of our culture. Students spend a considerate amount of their time watching various programs on T.V. Time spent too much on watching T.V. reduces students' academic achievements and performances depending on the quality of the programs that are being watched and affects the infant's brain too. Ann Gosline asserts that too much time watching T.V. reduces students learning abilities and academic achievements. Childhood hours spent on T.V. are directly correlated with earlier sexual activity, aggressive behavior, smoking, obesity, and poor academic performance. Television watching is known to interfere with the brain development of an infant.

This research paper studies the negative impact of Television on students' academic performance. Students studying in schools use various forms of mass media, influencing their social behavior and academic performance. Idiot box (Television) has played a good role in promoting entertainment and education but children fully involved in watching Television have been found to have poor performance in their class and school. However, the AAP reports that children and adolescents spend, on average, seven hours per day on combined media devices. Since Television is easily accessible in various media formats, it is essential to understand its potentially harmful effects on academic performance.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the negative impact of Television on the academic performance of students of Subhash Nagar, Manimajra, and Chandigarh U.T. The study involved 20 teachers and 20 parents drawn from Diamond Public School Manimajra selected by simple random technique. It employed a descriptive survey design. The data was collected by questionnaire method. The Research study found that; watching Television all the time at home has a negative effect on the academic achievement of Diamond Public School students.

Keywords: Idiot box, Television, Academic Performance, Subhash Nagar, Manimajra, Chandigarh