I don't watch TV

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I don't watch TV.
I tell people this quite a lot and they often repeat it back to me, confused. "But, like...you still watch Netflix right? Hulu?"
In middle school I watched excessive amounts of television. Lost, Shameless, American Horror Story... I watched so much television, in fact, that I decided I would not waste one more second of my life doing so. Every now and again I'll watch something with a friend, so in the past year I have probably seen 4 total hours of TV. It is very interesting to see the impact this has had on my life. In Critical Thinking Class, people will talk of ads, and I have no idea what they're talking about. Making the descion to stop watching TV has allowed me relax in ways that do not involve a screen. Although I have no evidence of this, it feels healtheir to unwind by reading or listening to music than watching TV.
According to a study done by Harvard, “Cutting back on TV watching can significantly reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and premature mortality.” Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH, said “We should not only promote increasing physical activity levels but also reduce sedentary behaviors, especially prolonged TV watching.” While this sounds like it only applies to excessive TV-watchers, I still think the everyday person would benefit from cutting down their TV consumption.

Comments

  1. Julia HeckeyMay 7, 2019 at 6:18 PM

    I am the same way ella!! The last time I have sat down and watched the entirety of an episode, let alone a series, has been at least a year. For some, television is a great way to unwind. I just think that if someone chooses to unwind this way they should not fall for the illusion of a stopped clock and understand how much time they have just devoted to something 100% unproductive.

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  2. AnonymousMay 7, 2019 at 6:52 PM

    I thought that this was very interesting, I myself do not watch that much TV (other than completely bingeing the best show ever--Breaking Bad haha), but my mom did the same thing in high school! She really enjoyed doing this and became really well read. While she sometimes regrets missing many cultural references, she would not have done any differently because as she has told me: habits are best instilled in the teenage years.

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