Screen Time in America

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Television, or screen time, has become a large part of today's society. Whether it's by way of smart-phones, a television, a computer, or a tablet, screen time has negative effects on the cognitive ability of children and adolescents. It has even been proven that it can lead to Alzheimer's disease when a person, in the age range of 20-60 years old, views an hour more than the recommended amount of screen time a day (Sigman 14). In children, the amount of screen time viewed has a relationship with the likelihood of developing a deficit in his attention span; the longer a child views screen time, the more likely he is to be diagnosed with an attention disorder. Screen time, or television, can cause attention disorders and other problem with cognitive abilities in children and adolescents that effect the education they can comprehend. In April 2004, a journal, Pediatrics, described that the greater the amount of television watched by a toddler, the greater risk for him to develop an attention disorder later on in childhood, as described by researchers at a children's hospital in Seattle, Washington. “For each extra hour per day of TV time, the risk of concentration difficulties increases by 10 percent” (Sprinkle 1). A child is more likely to be diagnosed with an attention disorder like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) when they view a television program. ADHD and ADD both effect the child's ability to stay attentive to one thing for a normal amount of time, which will, in turn, make the comprehension of the education he receives tougher than that of a child who has a normal attention span. Viewing television has a direct negative correlation with the amount of mental work a child pr... ... middle of paper ... ... child. Television causes a child to develop attention disorders that cause him to not do well in school compared to that of a child who has a normal attention span. Works Cited Anderson, Daniel R., Aletha C. Huston, Deborah L. Linebarger, Kelly L. Schmitt, and John C. Wright. "Academic Achievement." Early Childhood Television and Adolescent Behavior. 66.1 (2001): 36-67. Print. Brown, Ari. "Media Use by Children Younger Than 2."Pediatrics. 128.5 (2011): 1040-1045. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. Klass, Perri. "Fixated by Screens, but Seemingly Nothing Else." New York Times 09 May 2011, D5. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. Sigman, Aric. "Visual voodoo: the biological impact of watching TV." Biologist. 54.1 (2007): 12-17. Print. Sprinkle, Nicole. "The Truth About TV & ADHD."Additude Magazine. New Hope Media LLC, n.d. Web. 23 Nov 2013. .

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