Television Summary ICSE Class 10 English

Television (Summary)

The poem ‘Television’ is written by Roald Dahl who is a well-known child author. This poem is about how television affects and harms children.

Summary of Television by Roald Dahi

The poem is all about advice. The poet advises the parents not to have television in home. It is an idiotic thing according to him. He attempts to answer why the television is an idiotic thing throughout the poem.

The poet tells his readers that many children watch television with their eyes open and with full concentration. They are tired of watching television but also they continue to watch. They continue to watch until their eyes pop out. They become distant from the real world and become still. Things happening on television are real for the kids.

This idiotic box captivates the kids. “Shocking ghastly junk” fills their minds and they become drunk. Eventually they are lazy as the television kills their valuable time. They don’t even exercise or play physically. They lack time to interact with each other nor do they read books or spend time with nature.

The television has the ability to make naughty kids quiet. They allow their mothers to cook and wash dishes. They do not fight, kick or punch or climb out the window sill. This cannot be a defense to make kids sit in front of television. It does no good rather than doing damage.

Moreover, the poet enquires the parents about what good they are doing to their kids. He himself gives the answer saying that television is the root of damage. Children lack imagination skills  and creativity and are unaware of the real world. Their ideas are messed up with contradictory ideas.

The children are too into the fictional world to utilize their time thinking over real things. They become too dull and blind and make no efforts to develop their personality. They are captured by virtual reality and unable to understand fairy tales. Their ideas freeze and become rusty.

Parents often ask him how to manage kids without television. The poet answers this question by saying that the kids should read books. Earlier times, children used to read a lot. Books used to scatter everywhere and the nursery shelves were filled with books. The poet talks about adventurous books of that time. Books of queens, dragons and gypsies. Earlier times, children read books by Helen Beatrix Potter. Stories like “How Camel Got His Hump” and its characters were popular.

The poet requests the parents to install a bookshelf in place of the television. Children will resist the change by yelling, giving dirty looks, biting or screaming. Parents should overlook their resistance.

According to the poem, there will be no option left but to read books for the children. Eventually, they will happiness in books and will thank their parents for filling them with knowledge and wisdom in the future.

The poem is all about the damage done by the television to the kids. It focuses more on the importance of books for kids.