In “Television Harms Children”, Ann Vorisek White claims that the intellectual and cognitive development of children who frequently watch television is threatened. To support this claim, she points to the findings that “the more television children watch, the weaker their language skills and imaginations” (White, 2006). Before the brain fully matures around age 12, it is in the stage of rapid development. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “recommends that children under the age of two not watch TV or videos, and that older children watch only one to two hours per day of nonviolent, educational TV” (White, 2006). A study from the AAP (as cited in White, 2006) found that the average American child watches four hours of television every day. Considering "expression and reasoning are not automatic" abilities, young children who routinely watch television eventually become "passive and nonverbal" to stimuli in their environment (White, 2006). Since the normality of curiosity and imaginations of young children are the foundation of how they learn, remaining passive for extended periods of time affects their intellectual and moral development.
Such nonverbal absorption from language spoken by actors on TV does not have the same effect on children’s intellectual and cognitive development as real-life language experiences. A conversation is cooperative, allowing “time for reflection, questions, and encouragement” (White, 2006). On the other hand, television provides no interaction, so the child is glued to the television, unable to ask questions and has no time for thought because the show must go on. As a result, children who watch excessive amounts of television become adapted to not think, leading them to be “passive and unrespo...
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...ect to the cognitive development of the brain. It gives small details about the normal development of the brain hemispheres and the difference between a child's brain and an adult's brain. White warns parents how they are damaging their children’s' brains by allowing them to watch excessive hours of television. Excessive hours of watching television causes an interruption in the child’s intelligence development, hindering the child’s responses to his/her environment. She states that it is best if parents do not let their children watch TV as a common way to amuse them. She advises parents to withdraw their children from the television to explore different situations by participating in healthier activities.
Works Cited
White, A. V. (2006). Television Harms Children. Opposing Viewpoints. Television. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Mothering, 2001, 70)
Television is a distraction for children and can hurt their cognitive abilities if they watch too much because it is non interactive. In the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Helena Duch and colleagues mentioned that the American Academy of Pediatrics advises, “parents avoid exposing children 2 and under to screen media, a nationally representative survey found that 68% of children under the age of 2 use screen media in a typical day, and that average screen time was 2.05 hours per day” (Dutch et al 2). Children live in a world full of screens, ranging from iPhones, TVs, to tablets and computers. Drastic brain development occurs during the ages of 1-3 and exposing them to too much screen time of any kind can have negative effects on them (Hopkins 27). Putting them in front of a screen also steals away from times they could be talking, playing, and interacting with their surroundings. Pediatrician Dr. Michael Rich claims that shows d...
In “The Plug-in Drug”, author Marie Winn attempts to reason with the reader to persuade them that watching television --- even “good” programs --- is harmful to children. She also uses counter arguments debunk current beliefs about children and television.
Children in their adolescents years watch a great amount of TV each week and it is almost inevitable that they will start to be influenced by what they see on their television. They will see diffe...
Today’s youth are spending more time indoors in front of a television than they do outside playing, which has been reported in studies to have negative effects on children; My early childhood education teachers have taught me that a brain/body in motion helps the child to gain fine motor, gross motor, cognitive and language skills. Bly cities the National Institute of Mental Health which found that “more skill and concentration was needed to eat a meal than to watch television, and how the constant watching left people passive yet tense, and unable to concentrate” (page 5). In my experience I came across a parent who was set in her ways; she believes that television education is more beneficial for a child than to have a child sit in a classroom learning environment. I asked her why she said “television gives her child a quieter atmosphere to learn in”. She then got upset when it was time for me to do child assessment on her child. She was embarrassed. She couldn’t understand why her child was so far behind the other children. She asked me what the difference was; why was her child not able to keep up. She became confused. I myself thought shows’ like “Sesame Street” were educational but I never thought it could replace school. I thought that it aided and had a positive effect. I never took the time to realize what Bly meant when he said “the show’s producers have violated the natural slowness in which
The effect of television on children’s behavior is a topic that has continued to evoke interest in psychologists. In the investigations educators suggest that television has replaced other forms of socialization such as school and family, reason being that children spend more time in watching television as compared to time spent in school.
Anderson, Daniel R., et al. Early Childhood Television Viewing and Adolescent Behavior. Ed. Willis F. Overton. Boston: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. Print.
Television was an invention designed to entertain and inform. Created in the 1920s by John Logie Baird, TV has become an indispensable piece of furniture in most American dwellings. Every child, at least once in their lives have heard their mothers tell them that spending long periods of time in front of a screen will damage their brain. Two opposite arguments question all mothers’ hypothesis. Steven Johnson in “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” claims that over the years TV has become more complex. He considers that this complexity forces the brain to work. Dana Stevens in “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” argues that there are many cons in the issue and that watching TV does not make anybody smarter. Instead,
Television has become a big part in children’s day-to-day lives especially in the 20th century. Children in this century rely on television to keep them entertained and educated instead of entertaining and educating themselves by participating in activities, which will teach them a lot more in life then the actual television. There is no doubt that children are most easily influenced by television because of the different content that they watch as well as the amount of time consumed watching TV. The television does have an emotional and intellectual development on children but this all depends on the content that they’re watching and the way that they absorb the information that the show is trying to send out. Different programs will portray
The authors of “The Effects of Background Television on the Toy Play Behavior of Very Young Children,” were seeking proof that adult television is a disruptive influence on very young children. The experiment consisted of fifty 12, 24 and 36 month olds playing with various toys for one hour. One half of the hour the television remained off while the children played with their toys and for the other half of the hour the children attempted to play while the television remained turned on. According to the article, prior studies show background television interferes with a child’s attention span while playing with toys. Playing is to create and promote healthy cognitive and social development (Piaget, 1962), but studies have proven that if television is on whilst playing, a child will fail to learn cognitive and social developmental skills essential to day-to-day life.
It may be hard to admit, but television has become an intricate part of our everyday lives. People children often find themselves sitting in front of the television screen for a longer period of time than before and this has evolved immensely over the past few years. In this article, “The Trouble with Television,” by the author Marie Winn, mentions that addiction of television is negative effects on children and families. It keeps the families from doing other things and it’s a hidden competitor for all other activities. Television takes place of play and on top of that kids who watch a lot of television grow uncivilized. Also, the author mentioned that televisions are less resourceful for children and have negative effects on children’s school achievement and on physical fitness. Although there are so many other types of addictions but the author Marie Winn’s points of argument of watching television is a serious addiction that our children and families have negative effects.
The most important issue with children watching too much television is that the passive act displaces from other activities such interactive play and role play. When a child is watching television, the child is not involved in any type socializing with other children. If these interactions aren’t taking place, then the children are not receiving feedback as to the actions or consequences to their behavior, which is how we the learn the most basic langu. From the earliest moments of life, children begin to learn the fundamentals of language. Children must be exploring the world to learn the fundamental laws of physics by manipulating objects. To use play for understanding symbolism, which is the cornerstone of reading and, indeed, mathematical skills as well. Television limits a child’s motivation to explore and to engage himself in creative activities. That doesn’t include takin in the account of the televison’s content. What is being fed into the adolescents brain when watching television requires very little thought and does not allow any room for questioning? and the development of alternative understandings or explanations. Language development also suffers in children watching television. A young age is when we learn to use appropriate usage of language and appropriate responses through experiences from those surrounding. Learning language by modifying and understanding they receive and even the corrections
Most of these scientific terms and ideas might only be understandable to a neurologist, but the main results of this study showed that the more television that a child watches the more likely it is to affect their frontal pole and intelligence. Although looking at how the brain develops is important, it is also crucial that we look at the psychological effects of media.
As early as 1958 investigations were being conducted of the effects of television on children. During this time, the researchers found that most of the television content was extremely violent. In almost half of the television hours monitored, the programs main focus contained violence. The common theme that was seen throughout the programs were crime, shooting, fighting, and murder. The universal definition of violence used was, "Any overt depiction of the use of physical force, or the credible threat of such force, to intend to physically harm an animated being or group of beings." In this investigation, Wilbur Schramm concluded that under some conditions, some violent television could effect some children. For the most part, most television is neither helpful or harmful to most kids under most circumstances. As you can see this conclusion is quiet vague, and does not give a lot of crucial information for us to correct and improve. Schramm and his colleagues came up with a solution for parents to provide a warm, loving, secure family environment for their children, and they would have little to worry about.
'Television also conditions a child to dual stimui: sound and images.';(Neural Activity and the Growth of the Brain) The constant and rapidly changing sound and images can condition a child to expect the level of televisions in other situations. The problem with this is that in school children are called upon to speak, to listen, to work some problems, or read, and none of these tasks contain the 'dual stimula'; that children expect from television. Dr. Hinto...
Shulman, J. (2004). Television and kids: link to behavioural problems.. Alive: Canada’s Natural Health & Wellness Magazine, 264(264), 84-86