Topic 8 Has TV destroyed communication? I strongly agree with the statement that television has destroyed the communication between family and friends

I strongly agree with the statement that television has destroyed the communication between family and friends. This is a very interesting and thought provoking (пищу для размышлений) statement, and I have specific reasons for agreeing with it, which are explained in the following paragraphs.

In today's world television occupies a very important place (занимает очень важное место) in our lives, more than it ever has. Before the television was invented people used to spend their free time in many different ways. Keeping close contact with family and friends, meeting new people, and playing sports outdoors are a few such things that used to be on the top of their lists. Even for a long period of time after the television was invented, people used to spend only limited and specific amount of time watching television. But with the advent (с приходом) of satellite television and the introduction of hundreds of channels, we are now spending a good amount of time just to decide what to watch.

These days an average family's typical day starts with watching television and ends with it. Add to that, different people in the family have different tastes that results in more than one television in a household. I know many of my friends who own at least three televisions that are on all the time airing a variety of programs (показывают ряд программ). Among all these, where is the time for people to communicate with each other on a regular basis? I can give a very good example of this: I had an appointment (встреча) with a friend of mine last Sunday at my house. But he did not show up. His reason was, "I was watching something interesting on TV and forgot about our meeting."

There is nothing wrong in watching television. There are so many good programs to watch, but there are equally bad programs that do nothing but waste our time. The secret is to balance our priorities in life. As much as it is important to watch television, friends and family are more important. Communicating with them on a regular basis is a very healthy thing and it should never be overlooked because (никогда не следует упускать из виду из-за) of television.