Television can become a replacement for family interaction. When TV programs dominate the evening routine, it is likely that family dynamics suffer. Children need to develop relationship skills. The place our children first learn the verbal craft of interacting is at home. Television can decrease interactions with one another, and stunt the development of our family relationships.

Using television as a relaxation tool, while seemingly benign, can encourage passive retreat instead of engagement in family. A kind of "hypnotism" can result which promotes withdrawal from relationships and passive entertainment as the answer to a stressful day. Too much television or too rigid a viewing schedule can reduce intimacy in the family. Not only can we become too "zombied out" to share our feelings, but we run the danger of turning to the neon light of the screen instead to our family members for nourishment.

TV entertainment can become addictive because it can be used for instant diversion from negative feelings of pain, sadness, inadequacy or even boredom. But, like any addiction, engaging in the behavior results in decreased pain in the short run, yet leaves you no closer to resolving these feelings or developing yourself in the long run. Instead, things that are "bothering" you are merely suppressed and temporarily forgotten. Coping or finding answers may be put on hold permanently.