Television is a permanent part of our lives and sometimes

it influences our decisions and opinions more than it

should.
Everyone has at least one television set in his home.
Families who have children usually own more than one
(they have a television set installed in each bedroom and
even in the kitchen). People find television a very
comfortable and cheap way of spending their spare time,
without having to move from their chairs or putting their
mind at work in order to understand the meaning of a
great book. Television offers a great variety of choices,
such as news programs, cartoons, films, entertainment or
sports channels. Parents and children can watch
television all day long without getting bored.
There are both positive and negative ways in which
television can influence our lives. First of all, television, as
all the mass media, keeps us informed on the
political, economic and social changes in our society. On
television we see interviews with politicians, we listen to
the latest music as well as find out about the latest
fashion trends. If you want to be informed and you don't
have a newspaper or acces to the Internet you can
always turn on your TV and find out the latest news. Also,
if you plan to go out and you don't really know what to
wear, you can watch the forecast and find out if the
weather is going to be sunny, cloudy, cold, or hot.
Besides these practical reasons that make us watch

television, there are other reasons as well: people can

learn new interesting things and they also can have fun.
There are many educational channels, such as Discovery,
that broadcast only documentaries and many people find
them fascinating and useful. At the same time, plenty of
channels offer a great variety of entertainment shows.
Television can influence peoples lives in different ways,
by keeping them informed about the politics or the
economy, by offering them new scientifical or historical
information, helping them complete their education, and
also by making them feel relaxed and happy after a hard
day at school or at work.
The mass media in general and television in particular
have influenced people's lives since they appeared.
Unfortunately, this influences is sometimes negative,
destroying lives and expectations.
Watching too much television is bad for your eyes but
mostly for your mind and spirit. We watch television to
escape from the realities of our lives and we often forget
that what we see on the TV screen is nothing else but
fantasy. We dedicate a lot of time and energy to watching
images and characters that don't exist, because movies,
cartoons, and also the news are the expression of some
artists or the reporters' point of view, and it often has no
connection with reality.
Children and teenagers are the easiest victims of this
false reality, because they can't make a clear cut
between reality and fantasy. They watch films or news

about their favourite stars and they think that cool

clothes and make-up or outrageous behaviour are the
most important things in life. Girls often fall victims to
popular television models and they decide to starve in
order to get to look just like the so-called
beautiful stars.
Another negative aspect is that people lose faith in
themselves and start thinking that those images they see
on television are better than their lives will ever be, so
they give up their lives and stay in front of the television
all day long, ignoring their family or friends. They lose
interest in their jobs and even get fired because of the
influence television has on them.
On television people can watch violent programmes or
films that influence their behaviour, making them more
aggressive or more frightened. In every civilized country,
these programmes are often broadcast after midnight,
but that doesnt stop children from watching them.
Also, television presents many advertisements conceived
to make people like and want a product without even
trying it or tasting it. These false expectations, these false
images broadcast on television influence our lives in a
negative way.