The Negative Effects Of Television On Children

The Effects of Television on Children

Television is generally blamed worldwide by parents for its negative effects. Before the television was invented, children spent more time playing outside, eating dinner with their family, reading and participating in sports, music and art that requires practice to become skillful. Now most families stay inside and watch television mindlessly. According to studies performed by The Nielsen Company, children from ages two to eleven years old spend an average of 23 hours per week in front of a television (McDonough). Though television is an effective way to deliver information and a great source of entertainment, watching too much TV can put stress on family health, reduce a child’s time to learn and is a

7th, 1927 and was quite primitive (Stephens). Today, television is one of the most influential sources of media. As commercial television began to increase in popularity in the United States during the 1940s, television’s effects on individuals became a topic of interest. Today, you can watch anything that interests you to include: music, news around the world, horror movies, children’s shows, sports and educational television. Television has become a national favorite past-time and an important part of our daily lives, especially if you are a child. “Baby Einstein”, “Sesame Street” and “Vampire Diaries” are all household TV show names for families with children. There are television shows that directly target all ages of children from the time they are babies up until they are young

Instead of playing sports or being outside, kids will spend their free time sitting and inactive. Excessive television can also result in difficulty sleeping or excessive tiredness. The Department of Experimental Physiology in the United Kingdom has linked children who viewed the greatest amounts of television advertising media targeting children’s promotional characters and themes of fun have shown to cause significant increases in high carbohydrate and high-fat foods in children (Boyland, Halford 236-41). In a study examining the relation between hours of television viewed and the prevalence of overweight children in 1990, the odds of being overweight were 4.6 times greater for youth watching more than five hours of television per day when compared with those watching from zero to two hours (Gortmaker