The effects of television and the family

Before television, people spent their time at home in wholesome activities. Families worked together, played together, went on picnics or to the lake, took pleasure rides through the country, strolled through the woods and fields. At supper they gathered at the table and talked. On a stormy day or in a quiet evening family conversation might go on for hours.

People carried on many arts and crafts, from woodworking to needlework. When we look at things made generations ago by our ancestors, we are amazed at their skill and resourcefulness. Most people today are doing well if they can change a light bulb safely.

Every home in days past had musical instruments, cherished for the simple pleasure they could afford during hours of leisure. Most people liked to sing, and they knew a great variety of songs.

Until recently, most people pursued hobbies. When I was young, I collected stamps, coins, rocks, leaves, baseball cards, postcards, and books. A visit to the county fair always showed me that other people had better collections than I did. A popular hobby for men was gardening, often carried on with a passionate zeal to raise the best of a certain kind of flower or vegetable. Many women raised their work in the kitchen to hobby status. By devoting much time to preparing certain specialties, they won the acclaim of family and friends.

Today, television has captured our minds and eyes. The things that brought families together are now a hindrance.

Well, television is still the greatest way of communicating with millions of people at the same time.

June 29, 2009, 9 a.m. The Harvest Show, South Bend, IN will interview me to discuss my new published book, Before, After, And Beyond Bankruptcy and its effect - psychological, financially, emotionally, spiritually and physically http://www.babbankruptcy.com