Imagine a weekend at home with nothing but you, your caramel cinnamon popcorn and DVDs of all five seasons of Breaking Bad. You have nothing else on your agenda, your feet are carefully positioned on your favorite stuffed ottoman. You and your partner or a good friend are comfortably snuggled up under a fuzzy blanket. It sounds like a lot of fun to catch-up on a favorite series, check out one you’ve never watched on video or tune into Decades TV for reruns of your favorite old show marathons. But when is too much viewing too much? Often when what you binge view is crime and violence related or interferes with another important activity.
Research shows that when you view too much crime and violence that there is a definite effect! When you view crime shows too frequently, witnessing people becoming victims of unsuspected attacks, you may develop an inaccurate assessment of your own safety, feeling less safe than you really are! Your reaction has the potential of actually contribute to more staying at home and more binging watching. In a study reported in Purdue University News this effect was noted with one very different and positive result; those who view a large amount of criminal justice shows become more interested in working in the system, attracting more people to law enforcement careers. (for newsletter, learn more goes here.
Richard Pepler, CEO of HBO and Stephen Camarata, author of the Intuitive Parent checked in on both sides of the fence in TIME Magazine. Mr. Pepler views binge watching as one option in an on-demand world, but not the only one that causes anticipation, and the enabling of being a part of the “collective cultural conversation.” Camarata expresses the idea that TV watching is designed to be habit-forming, risking too much time sitting and replacing more active family bonding experiences with hours of TV viewing. Since time spent with parents is an important activity for children’s brain development, TV binging is taking away from the time that could be spent in direct family involvement.
Conscious viewing involves choice, one of the greatest methods for Real Conscious Viewing .