A new study, conducted by me, has concluded that even if one attempts to stop watching television, it is practically impossible, while maintaining any sort of social contact, to not be affected by its reach in one way or another. (1) For example, while visiting friends or family and being in a room with a television turned on, whether people are watching it or not, or just walking down the street and walking past televisions or sometimes even television walls, are common occurrences today. These, in my opinion, are the most dangerous forms of second-hand television. Your mind is concentrating on other things, a conversation with a friend, eating, drinking, or reading, for example, so it does not realize that it should be putting up its normal defenses.

When you watch TV directly, your mind takes in what it wants and blocks out what it does not. If there is something your mind disagrees with, for whatever reason, it figures out a way for you to brush it off as not important. By doing this, the effect those undesirable messages have on you is minimal. However, when exposed to second-hand television, your defenses are down and thoughts that you would not previously have let in get in. Friends even become unwitting carriers of these messages, reciting jingles, slogans and even repeating commercials word-for-word.

This problem can have even worse repercussions on children as they are exposed to so many more forms of second-hand television, from direct transmissions in their vicinity, to televisions in the classroom, to television characters in the marketing and promotion of other products, such as lunchboxes, binders and the like, and to friends ranting and raving about their favorite shows or characters, just to name a few. Even if you try everything possible to keep your children from watching television or even just from watching certain shows, there is very little you can do to keep them from being exposed to second-hand television and its negative effects.

There is a mall near my house that recently went through some renovations. To tell you the truth, I was pretty shocked to see some of the additions. In places where signs once existed there were flat-screen televisions with rotating images, first the screen would have the type of information they use to show on the regular sign, and then it would rotate to an ad or two, complete with moving pictures and blaring stereo sound. It was as if any portion of that mall that could send out any sort of stimuli had to. I realize now that, from a sales perspective, this is pretty smart. Overload the brain so it can’t quite focus on the one thing it was originally designed to, survival. Instead, slap it silly, pull it every which way, dunk it in a few barrels and get it to jump through a few hoops. By the time it's done it will agree to anything, smile, and say thank you.

(1) This editorial comment should in no way be considered a scientific study, nor is this, to the best of my knowledge, in any way endorsed or supported by any attorney general.