Though television helps us in many ways like providing information and entertainment; still, if proper attention is not given, it may also cause some health hazards especially to the eyes. No need to tell that eyes are one of the major body parts of every living being. The efficiency of eyes leads to the efficiency of all other external body parts like hands, legs, and feet, etc. So for our daily routine work also, good eyesight is very essential. In case the eyesight gets reduced by virtue of some reason or the other there are different means to enhance it, for example contact lens, spectacles, eye surgery, and laser, etc. But a natural organ is unmatched. By getting the abovementioned means of eyesight enhancement one will have to maintain certain precautions regarding the medicine or the equipment given for enhancement. So here comes in mind the famous saying "prevention is better than cure".

Since television is a very common household thing now days, certain precautionary measures are suggested so as to avoid its ill effects on our eyes.

First is the distance: the distance between a television and a person varies in black & white and color televisions. The safe distance for a black & white TV is up to 10 to 12 feet and for color television is up to 18 to 20 feet away from the person. Anything nearer to that is harmful to our eyes. Not paying attention to this distance prescribed by the doctors is one of the main reasons in children being more prone to get their eyesight affected and, consequently, forced to wear the glasses at a very early age. We can have just a hint of the effect and the intensity of light rays coming out of a television by switching on a television in a completely dark room with no lights at all. We can easily see the television emitting very sharp light, which illuminates the dark room of its own. This light of course is not as strong as a tube light but still enough to be harmful.

The second one is blinking of eyes. This aspect holds well not only for television but for everything. If one goes on watching television without blinking eyes for longer intervals then there can be redness of eyes. So blinking provides the necessary rest and lubricant to the eyes. Further one should not watch television for more than two hours at a length. Our eyes need rest at the same time while working. This comes in the form of seeing the objects at far distant places, blinking, moving the eyeball on either sides and up and down etc. So they have a capacity of their own and if we force them to work beyond their capacity, we can harm them.

One more precaution should be taken. The color and the contrast of the screen should be such that your eyes feel comfortable while watching. That is to say it should be not very much and not very less. If we take care of these small but very important aspect then we will find that television is a very good friend, guide, tutor and more or less a family member rather than a mere household object.