The Problem

CHAPTER ONE

THE PROBLEM

Behaviour of our child

TV changes the child’s behaviour in terms of the mood, motor movement, and play before, during, and after watching it. That truly should frighten all parents. However, we have failed to realise this! Have you ever wondered why a child does not listen to the parents, the child swears in the presence of the parents, a child moans, a child wants to do what they want to do and not what their parents want them to do? This is what they learn on TV. Remember that children are still developing and can’t think for themselves; hence they imitate what they see on TV.

Before watching TV, a child would play, as children would do, with peace even on their own according to the environment. When watching TV, a child is unresponsive to his parents and to what is happening around them as if glued to the TV. When the TV is turned off a child becomes anxious, nervous, irritable and usually cries or screams for the TV to be turned back on. The child’s play lacks his own imaginative input and instead of creating his own play themes, he will simply imitate what has just been seen on TV in a very dull, uncreative and unnatural way.

Dr. Susan R. Johnson writes;

“Our son at the age of 3 ½ years, went on a plane trip to visit his cousins near Boston, and on the plane, was shown the movie “Mission Impossible.” The movie was right above our son’s head making it difficult to block out. Earphones were not purchased, so the impact was only visual, but what an impact it had on our son. He had nightmares and fears about fires, explosions, and bloody hands for the next 6 months, and his play was overpoweringly changed.

Later that year, I assessed six different children from ages 8 to 11 years at the School Health Centre who all had similar difficulties with reading. They couldn’t make a mental picture of letters or words. If I showed them a series of letters and asked them to identify one particular letter, they could do it. If I gave them no visual input and just asked them to write a particular letter by memory, they couldn’t do it. All of these children watched a lot of television and video and played computer games. I wondered what happens to a developing child placed in front of a TV set if they are presented with visual and auditory motivation at the same time. What is left of the brain to do? At least with reading a story or having a story read to them, the mind can create its own imaginative pictures.” (Johnson, 2001)

TV has a clear effect on the human brain, both the developing brain of a child as well as the adult brain. Many studies have been done that should give us cause to reconsider the entire matter.

TV Addicts

Television programming is simply a filler to keep people watching between advertisements. So-called “public TV” is nothing other than business propaganda to make people think that the “People Care” campaigns are sincere. The second reason is that almost everyone is addicted. I have actually heard few people who would debate that clear harms of television, but everyone is addicted, people think that life without TV can make you depressed or how does one spend time without one. What they obviously not relised that TV is what makes one depressed and is headless of reality. Addicts know 2 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk

best how heavy the monkey on their back is, but they can’t seem to throw it off, or so they have been made to believe.

The question arises that could TV itself be causing attention problems and learning difficulties in children? Are we spending enough time with our children and looking deeply enough into their development and soul to notice the often subtle changes that occur from spending hours in front of the TV set? What are the capabilities we are losing or even developing because of this TV habit?

Over the past three years as a teacher I have found that many parents do not ask nor teach there children about their lessons. A parent once stopped me and said, “My child has prayed this book three times!” So we arranged to talk to the child’s teacher. I thought to myself that it took the father this long to realise his child had finished the same book three times, Subhanallah, does this not say anything to us. The fact of the matter is that we have time for the TV but not for our child, we have to sit with the family in front of the TV but not ask the child of the work they did at school or mosque today, this is our situation. Mothers spend so much time in the house work and in the kitchen whilst the TV baby sits corrupts the mind and this is a fact.

Fatal consequences of television

Now study what intellectuals and thinkers have to say about the poisonous invention: Marhta Smilgis, an associate editor of the famous magazine ‘Time’, writes:

“Detailed discussions regarding sexual attitudes and the use of condoms for safer sex began taking place in the press and television which resulted in the spreading of practical sex so openly amongst public that a year ago this could have not been imagined.” (Postman, 1985)

An American magazine explains the reasons for the terrible state of American culture; the moral crimes committed there, their odd sexual behaviour and their desire of passion in the following manner:

“Presently three devilish forces have spread throughout the world. These three forces are busy preparing a hell:

1. Obscene literature which is being widely circulated with all its immorality at a terrific pace since the Second World War.

2. Films which do not only incite sexual desire but rather teach its practical lessons.

3. Low moral standards of women.” (Postman, 1985)

Is this not happening in front of our own door step? What happens in the Bollywood movies? Does one not fall in love with the other and run away from home? The opposite genders texting each other on the mobile phones, then deciding to meet up and then the girl comes home in some blunder or being pregnant and the boy doesn’t want anything to do with it. This is the culture we have learnt from the TV, those who produce these have dirty minds and souls waiting to corrupt those who watch it.

Former chief justice of the supreme court of Saudi Arabia writes:

“A German social expert, after personally conducting a thorough study of different schools and society and the new generation said: ‘Destroy the system of television before it destroys you.’” (Ismail, 1996) 3 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk

The above statement coming from a person who works with people of the society has relised the main cause of corruption and has hit the nail on the head.

Dr. N. Wagmore, a famous journalist, writes in her book, ‘Why Suffer’:

“The truth is that television sets are like X-Ray machines. Appropriate protective measures have been taken against the harms caused by X-Ray machines used by doctors. However, until now no such protective measures have been taken against the harms caused by television sets. The beams radiated by X-Ray machines are very destructive. A person is frightened merely by thinking of its destructive effects on the delicate organs and limbs of the human body.”

She further writes:

“Young boys and girls sit in front of the television set to watch programmes. Consequently, only in one of the hospitals of the American city Boston, six hundred boys and girls were being treated for blood cancer.” (Ismail, 1996)

Besides this, television also causes other physical harms. For example, investigations proved that it causes paralysis and its beams are very detrimental to the vision of the eyes. Dr. H.P. Shaun conducted an experiment on a pregnant bitch (a female dog). The beams radiated by the television were made to fall on her for two months where after she gave birth to four pups. All four suffered from paralysis and three were blind. Another person purchased two parrots and placed their cage in front of a television set. Consequently, both the parrots’ feet became paralysed. These investigations clearly prove that the beams radiated by the television set cause harm and destruction to physical health and they bread different types of destructive diseases. (Ismail, 1996)

Moreover, another frightening fact is that the matter emitted by the television which diffuses into the atmosphere is very dangerous and destructive. On the 5th of August 1992 the Madras daily newspaper, ‘Musalman’, published the following facts:

“A report released shows that the poisonous gas matter emitted by an apparatus electrically operated at home like the television is five times more dangerous than the after effects of a bomb blast at a nuclear test station.” (Ismail, 1996)

Did we ever think the TV would be this harmful? Is this not enough evidence that it has affected our souls that we have failed to recognise the detrimental effects? Many authors have written books on this matter, we should make the effort to read them and understand how to bring back to life our dead souls.