Decline In Social Activities example essay topic

Over the last three decades we have seen a major shift in the amount of social activity and engagement. The advances in technology have shifted leisure time from being a social activity to more of a private activity. The primary culprit of this shift is television. Television hit the scene around the late 40's and was being mass marketed within ten years of its introduction to the market. Americans average forty hours of television watching per week. In addition to this is the evolution of capitalism converting the traditional civic organizations like the YMCA or the boy scouts, to the local fitness center and more focused organizations like grassroots.

With the evolution of capitalism came the industrial revolution which in turn produced mass production. Mass production allows large organizations to conduct activities on a much larger scale with the use of machines to complete all of the busy work such as mailings. While the level of efficiency far surpasses that of the individual, the feeling and emotional level of commitment to a social group is eliminated when the task is performed by a machine. In short, it seems as though the technological push is headed towards a more private method of leisure as opposed to the recent public methods of days past. "In 1950 barely 10% of American homes had television sets, but by 1959, 90% did, probably the fastest diffusion of major technological innovation ever recorded".

(Putnam 46) It seems as though this phenomena correlates perfectly with the time that the decline in civic engagement started. Speaking from the generation accused of creating this decline in social activities, it is easier for an individual to sit at home and watch television than it is to go out and meet and socialize with unfamiliar people. While newspaper reading is associated with high social capital, television is with low social capital and is the only activity that seems to inhibit participation outside the home. Also are the accessories associated with television.

The video cassette recorder is a good example of this phenomena in which one doesn't have to go to the cinema to see a movie. Home video game systems are another example of the technological pushes towards private leisure time. "The unusual quality of the civic generation (those born before the 1940's) is that they were born and raised to adulthood before television. Television consumes about 40 percent of people's free time today. Americans average four hours a day watching television. People no longer need neighborhood cookouts, bowling leagues, card clubs, town parades, historical societies, or bird watching groups to entertain themselves.

In the process, however, they interact less often with other members of their community. They know fewer people. They have less reason to trust people. They may be less likely to share a common identity and see a common future with others in their community. Putnam believes that devoting so much time to television is the single most important factor in the decline of civic engagement today". (Besser) The second major factor causing a decline is civic engagement is the replacement of the traditional and local civic organizations to those which are more commercialized and issue-oriented.

For example, there are more people who protest against abortion than hold a bake sale. It seems that the attitude towards constant evolution and development have outlawed the idea of just some plain old-fashioned fun for no reason at all. The clubs today have prerequisites and qualification standards whereas before all one had to do was want to participate. The local lodge is being replaced by a pub and the group dynamic that once flourished in this country is slowly starting to erode.

Lastly, the technological push of a more private society is one that has received mixed feelings. There is something intriguing about being a private person. The level of vanity that exists in today's society has exploded into the cell-phone and tinted window generation. Perhaps it was started by those in the spotlight constantly wanting to escape for even just a moment that extreme measures were necessary. It is in style to be aloof and mysterious which heavily contributes to this downward trend in social activity. In conclusion, there are many causes for the decline of social capital and civic engagement in America over the last three decades.

One could even speculate that the 60's hippie generation smoked too much marijuana which is contributing to the antisocial behavior that their children are displaying. The simple fact is this, Americans are moving towards a more private social circle because they like it that way. There are so many competing ethnicities that one could get lost in the melting pot. Until the melting pot is so full that the idiosyncrasies of each culture are drown out, America will continue to move towards this more private society. While television is a major factor, its primary role is to facilitate this standard of privacy and allow people a social outlet that requires no participants but that of the individual. Until more interesting activities than the Sunday football game are created, America will continue to experience a decline of civic engagement.