Ever feel depressed watching television news? You are not alone. Too much can really bring you down, so as a teacher I advocate limiting television news to under 30 minutes a day for those under 21. Why? Might you ask.
Television news is driven by the mantra: "If it bleeds, it leads."
Sensationalized, often morbid and always driven by advertising dollars, viewers get a distorted sense of the real world. T.V. news brings into our homes what looks "interesting" on a video screen. But it does not provide us with a complete view of real life. What's a kid to think after watching tornado warnings, California Burning, suicides on camera ("Opps, sorry, we didn't mean for people to see that."), earthquakes, war casualties, political bashing from both sides of the isle, Enron executives getting away with millions while hard working employees lose their jobs, criminals outgunning police with heavy weapons (live for God's sake). Oh and when they break for a message from their sponsors, what do we see? An ad for a movie that tells us the world will be ending in 2012. What's the point of going to school? Let's just get drunk and party.
I admonish my students to get up to date news via the written word to avoid that which is driven by ads. Why not have a news source that is balanced. Click on the video log to the left for an example.
The Antidote
Here's an example of a news story that is not driven by advertising dollars.
39 years changing lives in public and private education. Toby Manzanares is a Japan Fulbright Teacher, an Einstein Fellow Nominee, and was the California finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
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Retired from teaching, he continues to advocate for "At Risk" students working against the odds in circumstances not intended for the faint of heart.
As a science and math consultant, Toby continues to train teachers for success both in the classroom, and in the management of extended field studies experiences. He has served on (and chaired) the K-12 SACNAS Teacher Committee for seven years. (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, the premier U.S. Science Society dedicated to the promotion of under represented minorities in science, math, and engineering. Toby delivered the keynote address at the International Brain and Learning Conference and continues to advance learning through the implementation of brain research.
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