#150. Is watching television bad for children?
There is much conjecture over whether television is a positive or negative influence on a young child's development. There is a good case to be made for either of these opinions; I believe that both could be true depending on the programming the children are absorbing.
Nature programs, documentaries and educational programming can expose children to a wide variety of useful information. When children watch these types of programs, they are more likely to become concerned about the world around them, whether in terms of environmental issues, political issues, or cultural issues. Watching educational television is an excellent method of helping young people discover where their interests lie. For example, if a child sees a documentary on space exploration, they might develop a passion for it and continue studying it later in life. A show that a person watched when they were a child could possibly have been a catalyst for choosing a career.
On the other hand, most cartoons, soap operas, or violent crime television shows are detrimental to a child's development. Cartoons offer no useful information to a young person, and usually do not succeed in getting the child interested in anything except fantasy. Adult television, such as soap operas, can introduce children to subject matter that is not appropriate for their innocent minds, and can often cause children to grow up too fast. Violent television is perhaps most damaging for a young child to watch. It has been proven that if children watch violence on television when they are young, they become desensitized to it, and sometimes end up becoming violent adults.
In conclusion, I believe that the argument over whether watching TV is bad for children should definitely be swayed by what the children are viewing.
Educational television can be very beneficial to a young person. When this medium is used in such a way, new thoughts and ideas can be opened up to the young person. However, watching the wrong television shows can be very dangerous. Children can desensitize themselves to the world around them, and become antisocial, violent adults. I think the best situation is to ensure that parents monitor their children's television shows very carefully. By using this method, children will receive all of the benefits of good television, while avoiding all of its negative aspects.
150. 看电视对儿童有害吗？
关于电视对儿童的成长有好的影响还是不良影响有很多推测。双方的观点都有很恰当的例子。我认为根据儿童收看的不同节目，两种推测都有可能成为现实。
自然节目、记录片和教育类节目能给儿童带来大量有用的信息。当儿童观看这些类型的电视节目时，他们很有可能变得更加关注他们周围的世界，无论是关于环境问题、政治问题还是文化问题。观看教育类电视节目是帮助年轻人发现他们兴趣所在的极佳方法。例如，如果儿童观看了一部关于太空探索的记录片，他们可能会对此产生热情，并在以后的生活中不断地对这方面进行学习。一个人在童年时看过的一场表演可能会成为他或她选择某种职业的催化剂。
另一方面，绝大多数动画片、肥皂剧或者表现暴力犯罪的电视节目对儿童的发展是有害的。动画片给年轻人提供无用的信息，而且通常除了让儿童对幻想很感兴趣之外没有任何益处。成人类电视节目，例如肥皂剧，会向儿童介绍一些不适宜他们纯真心灵的内容，而且经常会导致儿童过早地成熟。暴力节目可能会是对幼小的儿童最具有破坏性的电视节目。事实证明如果儿童在小时候观看电视上的暴力节目，他们就会变得对此不敏感，而且有些人长大后会成为有暴力倾向的成年人。
因此，我认为关于看电视是否对儿童有不良影响的争论，应该由儿童观看什么样的电视节目决定。教育类电视节目对年轻人非常有益。当电视这种媒体被这样使用时，能把新的想法和观点展示给年轻人。然而，观看有害的电视节目是会非常危险的。儿童会对他们周围的世界变得不敏感，并且成为反社会的有暴力倾向的成年人。我认为最好的情况就是确保父母能够非常认真地监控他们孩子所观看的电视节目。靠这种方式，儿童将通过好的电视节目获益，同时避免各种不良影响。
- conjecture ［kənˈdʒektʃə］ n. 推测
- catalyst ［ˈkætlist］ n. 催化剂
- positive ［ˈpa:zitiv］ adj. 积极的
- soap opera 肥皂剧
- negative ［ˈnegətiv］ adj. 消极的
- detrimental ［ˌdetrəˈmentl］ adj. 有害的
- absorb ［əbˈsɔ:b］ v. 吸收
- fantasy ［ˈfæntəsi］ n. 幻想
- documentary ［ˌda:kjəˈmentəri］ n. 记录片
- innocent ［ˈinəsənt］ adj. 纯真的
- issue ［ˈisu:］ n. 问题
- desensitize ［ˌdi:ˈsensitaiz］ v. 使不敏感
- method ［ˈmeθəd］ n. 方式
- medium ［ˈmi:diəm］ n. 媒体
- exploration ［ˌekspləˈreiʃən］ n. 探险
- antisocial ［ˌæntiˈsəuʃəl］ adj. 反社会的
- passion ［ˈpæʃən］ n. 激情