the effect of Television on cultural development
In the era of advanced technology, television is more and more ubiquitous and is owned by most families all over the world. Thus, it is believed that apart from being an important source of valuable information and news, television has considerably contributed to the changes and formation of a variety of cultures. Personally, I suppose that television has both positive and negative impacts on cultural development.
On the one hand, it can not be denied that television plays a significant role in maintaining and developing cultural values in many societies. Firstly, by launching documentary films, historical programs, and others related to cultural identities, television helps young generations access to their traditional values in their nations. For instance, people will pay respects to their ancients and brave heroes who sacrificed for peace when they watch historical films which mention wars in the past. In addition, daily news channels which talk about good examples of kindness and honesty everywhere also contribute to educating people about moral lessons which our ancients had taught. Gradually, such lessons play a key role in creating a developed society with talented and gentle citizens.
On the other hand, there are some detrimental aspects of television that should not be ignored. First of all, the fact that people can access to various cultures in the world thanks to television results in the problem that they will follow such cultures and forget their original ones which are heritages of each nation. For example, with the dominance of Hollywood films around the globe, some Eastern countries are facing the risk of losing their national identities. Indeed, in Vietnam, most young people pursue the western lifestyle and even forget traditional principles which are transmitted through thousands of years. Secondly, although most programs published on TV are controlled strictly, there are still some illegal channels that publish improper information or some films having too much sexual and violent content. Such programs have a considerably negative impact on the moral development of viewers, especially children who are likely to imitate what they saw. Moreover, some films which exaggerate the story unintentionally make people misunderstand about images of certain countries. For example, people may think Malaysia is dangerous with mafia and drugs through action films about this country.
In conclusion, everything has pros and cons and television is no exception. While it can contribute to the development of cultures, in some aspects, it may be harmful if the people do not know how to avoid its downsides.
