Introduction: The word ‘television has come from the Latin word ‘tele’ and ‘vision’ ‘Tele’ means distance and ‘vision’ means sight. So television means sight from distance. It is one of the greatest inventions of modern science. It has added a new dimension in our modern life.
Invention: A German scientist Paul nepkov was the first visionary of the invention of television. First of all, he was able to send an image to a distant place later, in 1926; a British scientist John Bayard invented it on the basis of Paul’s experiments.
Uses of Television: Television is used in various sectors of our life. In communication, education, recreation, news presentation of home and abroad, religious and cultural function and where not? It has marked its footsteps in every sphere of our life. The uses of television are described below in detail.
i) In communication: The invention of television is milestone in the field of communication. We can get the picture of the whole world in it. We can learn about the different cultures of different communities of the world through its monitor. Similarly we can present our own culture through it.
ii) In Education: Television plays a vital role in the field of education. It telecasts many educative programmes for the students such as debates, lectures on various topics, educational discussions, quiz contest etc. Besides, it telecasts reports about meritorious students which inspire the others.
iii) In recreation: Television has gained much popularity for its recreational programmes. Today it is most common source of entertainment. We can enjoy music, drama, dance, serials, movies, cartoons and what not. Besides all these, there are several reality shows which also entertain us much.
iv) Games and sports: Sports is a popular form of entertainment. But it is not possible for many of us to enjoy sports at stadium. We can watch the live telecast of all game and sports sitting in our drawing room. All these are possible for us by the bounty of television.
v) International and current affairs: The television has made the world much smaller than before. By watching television, we get the latest news of home and abroad in a moment. We can see what is happening at the remotest corner of the world by the welfare of it.
vi) To spread mass education and awareness: To speak the truth, no other electronic media can play as much role as television to spread mass education and social awareness. It can also play an important role in removing illiteracy, Moreover; it can make the people conscious about the social curse like dowry, eve-teasing, bribery, corruption etc.
Abuses of Television: There is no unmixed good. Television is not exceptional to that. The young boys and girls often addicted to watching it nonstop. They spend their valuable hours by watching recreational programmes. They begin/commence to be fanciful by enjoying some sorts of unrealistic serials. Sometime they follow and try to practice the worse side of foreign cultures. The obscene dance programmes of some channels affect to their soft mind. Besides all these, watching television for a long time makes us lazy and inactive. It also may harm to our eyes.
It has to be confessed that television has some demerits. Nevertheless, we can not deny its essentiality. So we should take the good side of it and at the some time reject the bad side. Only then, it will be proved as a blessing to us.
