I Watch TV
by Rosa Ciszek

I'm one of those women who prefers to watch TV than to spend time chatting with my friends. I'm not saying that I'm not a social person. On the contrary I'm very friendly, but I choose to watch TV more than to chat.

There are quite a few things that bother me regarding some TV programs, or movies. Take soap operas for instance. They are basically about rich people with marriage problems, hate among families, cheating among couples, and violence among people. People tend to automatically do what they see on TV, so my opinion is why not reverse things around putting more emphasis on poor people, good marriages, no hate among family, no cheating among couples, and most importantly, no violence. If people would learn more to love and help each other this world would be a better place to live.

There is a program shown on TV every so often that breaks my heart, and also makes me angry. The program's name is: "Famine in the World".

Every time I watch it, I can't stop crying and feeling guilty for what I have, even though I don't have or never had very much myself. It's almost hard to believe that when some people have so much, others die day after day for not having the most important things like food, drink and clothing.

It breaks my heart to see children, as well as other people who are skin and bones, stuck in a corner and waiting to die, or waiting for some food. All this is so unfair, and I feel that if people would care more, this wouldn't happen. I only wish I had the power to rule the world. If so, I would make sure there would be no famine in the world, and I also would make sure that there would be equality among people and that there would be peace and love in the world.

Background Information

People have many opinions about TV shows. Talk about what kind of shows you like and don't like. Why do you feel the way you do about these shows? Do you think TV has the power to make people do things like commit crimes or have sex?

Questions

1. Why doesn't Rosa like soap operas?

2. Do you think that people really do what they see on TV? Why or why not?

3. Would you watch a TV show about poor people, good marriages, no hate, no cheating and no violence?

4. What is the name of the program that makes Rosa angry?

5. What happens to her when she watches it?

6. What is famine?

7. Why does she feel this way?

8. What could the world do to stop world poverty and hunger?

9. What does equality mean?