If we had wanted to over indulge ourselves, we could not. Television stations would start transmission at 16:00 with ten to thirty minutes of fixed rainbow screen display. And at 23:59, the sound of our national anthem with display of national flag constantly reminded us of an adage, ‘to every beginning, there is an end’ and thus television broadcast would be ended for each day. I wish i could take this single childhood memory of mine, blow it up into a bubble and live inside it forever.

We yearned for longer duration. We wanted a 24/7 nonstop TV broadcast. But we did not know, it would come with a heavy price tag. Today, thanks to improvement in technology, we now have access to thousands of television channels with never ending programs.
We have been cajoled by media with entertainment. And in this process, we have traded our core values for entertainment. Obvious changes are evident in our values been shaped by media; change in lifestyles, morals, decline in school achievements with a great threat to education sector. The influence of media on the psycho-social development cannot be over emphasized and with greater impact on children. It also captures and holds peoples’ interests for a large part of each day.

It is important to be aware of our high exposure to media and be cognizant of the whole process. There is a clear correlation between television’s influence on people and how much time they spend watching television. Frequent television’s viewing limits children’s time for vital activities such as playing, reading, learning to talk, spending time with peers and family, storytelling, participating in regular exercise, and developing other necessary physical, mental and social skills. Often without realizing it or in our unconsciousness, it often pervades our daily lives and impacts our personal perceptions and attitudes with great influence on our characters. More than 75% of television contents inspires abuse of drugs, alcohol and sex, violence and other negative vices in the society. Our core values are constantly being defined by media with no-value added TV shows, programs and celebration of entertainers or celebrities with no positive motivating characters.

Adeyemi A