BY DOMINICK DANIELE
Staff Reporter
After writing long papers or studying hours on end for an exam, college students might plop themselves on their couches and ask themselves, “What shows are on TV?”
At some point, students need to take a break, relax, and escape the reality of life. Sometimes, just grabbing the remote and putting on a television show is all one needs for temporary satisfaction.
However, nowadays, people are more in control of their outlets and duration of watching television with streaming programs such as Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV.
“I use Netflix a lot to watch TV shows,” said junior Sheriff Drammeh. “I really like using Netflix because I am able to watch any show when I want and continue to watch it without commercials or waiting for the next episode to air at a different time.”
According to a survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, watching television is one of the most common leisure activities in the United States.
Sometimes, a show is so entertaining that one might not want to stop watching. The viewer is hooked and could possibly watch an entire season of a show in one day. This type of habit is called “binge-watching.”
“I have caught myself binge-watching shows like Breaking Bad and Stranger Things,” said junior John Goodnough. “Mysterious shows that lead into the next episode are so hard not to binge-watch.”
According to SurveyMonkey, 64% of people who were asked why they binge-watched television attributed it to high production quality of the show. Also, 68% of people said that they felt more focused on a show when they binge-watched it in comparison to watching a YouTube video.
“For me, I would rather watch a show all at once, because I am able to remember the storyline and have the information fresh in my head,” said senior Frankie Scarano.
However, Drammeh is more on the side of watching shows at a normal, healthy pace.
“It is hard to not binge watch shows if you’re really into it, but when I watch an episode or two of a show every day until it is over, I feel like I understand, remember, and enjoy the show more since I didn’t get thrown a ton of information at me all at once,” said Drammeh.
College students are very busy with classes and other activities. Sometimes binge-watching television shows is a must for students like Scarano.
“It’s very common for college students to binge watch TV shows,” says Scarano. “I think this is because it is a break from reality. It helps when I am too stressed or fed up with school work. I also don’t know when the next time I will have a few hours to spare so I wanted to watch as much as I possibly could.”
Drammeh believes that college students need to unwind and take a break from doing work all the time. He believes that the best way to do unwind is by watching television shows, which he thinks can relieve stress.
“I think that it is important for college students to take a break for studies because people can become stressed out by doing a lot of work which is a detriment to students’ health,” said Drammeh.
Whether one prefers binge-watching a particular show or absorbing a different episode day by day, watching television shows seems to be a habit that most Americans adopt.
“As social beings, watching TV shows that are popular among others allows people to share ideas and is also a good conversation starter,” said Goodnough.
