Is television good for Bhutan?

I asked my Class 6 students to write on this topic. Most are very aware of the negative impact of television on the Bhutanese culture. They did point out some positives as well.

“Today I would like to tell is television important to Bhutan. Television is important for Bhutan because they give us news, knowledge, etc. For example in my village there was lots of fruit like plum, peach(zargong)and in the television they will show there are coming lots of fruits.

I would like to tell about television is not good for Bhutan. Television is not good because students will watch serial like cartoon network, fighting, abusing drugs, etc. They will do like their hero and some students are there in early morning and wake up and watch television and they left their homework to do, and their work to do. If they eat food and curry they will continue to watch television and parents scold. So I think television is not good for Bhutan.” ~Thinley Wangmo


“Today I am going to write is the television good for us. Television is bad for us because watching the wrong channel we will copy what is shown on the television, e.g. smoking, drinking alcohol and making gangs and fighting, and watching wrestling and fighting like them. Nowadays we can hear about the gang fight and in our school some boys are also making gang.

Now I will also say television is good for us because we can hear news as well as see. We can also know about the ancient time in channel called ‘Fox History’. We can also know different kinds of animals and can watch the television when we feel bored.

So lastly I say that television is good and together bad for us.”
~Kinley Wangmo

Today I would like to tell you if television is good for Bhutan I think it is good in different ways and bad in different ways. The bad is that if we watch too much television, it affects us and as a students we won’t study hard and when we can’t eat food also. We can’t eat because we are more concerned about television. We get bad knowledge like abusing drugs and some also begin to act as hero/boss.

I told you that there is also advantages about television that we should know limit of watching television and study hard. We get different types of good knowledge like messages and information about our world. We could know about other countries’ news. If we watch geography channel we get information about creatures/living beings. Do you watch television?” ~Chimi Yuden

“I would like to give my opinion on how television is good and bad for Bhutan. In some ways I think television is good for the citizens who know how to watch television. He or she can get news, advertisement and information such as what we should do if the earthquake comes. We can also know different kinds of animals.

Unfortunately but those who don’t know how to watch television properly are punished. Not punished by hands but some children are watching wrestling and do gang fights and they had to stay in the bar of metal as the prisoners in the hell…meaning prison.

So lastly, if we watch television, we should know how to watch it. What do you think?” ~Karma Lhazin


“I guess television is not good for Bhutan especially for children. It just distracts our mind. In television there are many channels, but only four to five channels are good for people. Even if people use that channel, sooner they will feel bored and watch other unwanted channels. There are about 30 channels that are not good for people.

For children they watch the characters doing stunts, fighting and many more. The children get attracted with those and they also copy from television, and it effects children a lot. They forget about studies. They try to do bad things and they want to be like hero doing stunts or whatever. The important thing is children are misusing the television and I am afraid we may lose our culture. As our country is developing, the population is increasing and more people may misuse the television. And today onwards people use computers where they pick up bad things from the internet. I say television or other computerized things are not good for our country. ~Thinley Lhendup