Barney, Sesame Street, and Arthur are just a few of many television shows that children watch. Many kids all over the world watch television, but the question is, is it really educational? Although there is no actual proof that television shows children watch are educational, surveys say that they can help enlarge children’s knowledge, increase imagination, and also introduce social behavior.
Most of the shows that children watch on television enlarge their knowledge and teach some kind of lesson that prepares them for school. “There is evidence that television viewing can aid acquisition of general knowledge plus improve cognitive skills” (Thakkar 2026). Shows can help teach the alphabet, numbers, reading, and/or writing. Dora the Explorer’s co-creator/executive producer, Chris Gifford, says that “writers build education into every episode” and “each episode incorporates the concept of "multiple intelligences," aiming to develop skills in seven key areas, such as using maps to teach visual/spatial learning and shapes to teach math” (Szabo 1). Also, a New York Times article states “since Sesame Street was created, assorted studies have shown that it helps preschool children learn about numbers and the alphabet, and thus helps prepare them for school” (Mifflin 1).
A large amount of the shows kids watch encourage the children to use their imagination. As Children watch the shows that they love, they may grow to admire and also love a certain character. By yearning to be more like that character they may do and act in certain ways that mimic the characters actions, and by pretending they are a character increases their imagination. Some shows are even interactive, which also increases imagination. Shows like Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues ask certain questions for the viewers to answer. For example, asking simple questions like “where is the fox?” or “do you
Moses, Annie M., and Benson McMullen. "What Television Can (And Can't) Do To Promote Early Literacy Development." YC: Young Children 64.2 (2009): 80-89. Education Research Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
“In the late 1960s, a television producer named Joan Ganz Cooney set out to start an epidemic. Her targets were three-, four-, and five-year-olds. Her agent of infection was television, and the “virus” she wanted to spread was literacy” (Gladwell 89). The Tipping Point is a book on the study of epidemics- including mental epidemics and trends. Sesame Street, still one of the most iconic shows to date, is an epidemic; the splurge of knowledge that appeared in children after it began to air is undeniable. The show started production in New York in 1968. Shows for children such as Sesame Street support children in school and throughout life by teaching them memorable lessons from helpful muppets. Nevertheless, how and
...ildren that seem helpful and educational. Learning systems such as leap frog or educational television programs are also a hot topic when it comes to giving your child a boost in the education department. Being that it is still “media”, the question is; how helpful are they really and how much is too much? (Garrison & Christakis, 2005) Many researchers suggest that there are no negative effects of these educational programs. However it may not be the education department that these children will be lacking in. It is found that more children that are preoccupied with media, even educational, are more likely to become obese, lack in social skills, and be less creative. There are pros and cons to every situation that occurs in life. When it comes to the development of a child, balance is ultimately what needs to be achieved to be able to obtain a healthy lifestyle.
As I read Television as a teacher written by Neil postman, His main argument throughout the article is that television isn’t a good or effective way to use education, and he describes how it’s actually worst for us and were not learning the full purpose of education and learning by watching tv. His main example was Sesame Street, and how children sit in front of a television for hours watching what they call education television and claiming they get knowledge from it but they're getting no social interaction by watching it. Also, Neil postman makes excellent points by comparing education television to a real classroom, saying how a classroom has social interaction, the ability to ask a teacher question, development of language, and it’s a
Imagination does not always involve dealing with realistic feelings or reading books and having to understand ideas in an intellectual way. Imagination does not need to be taken seriously; intelligence, on the other hand, should be taken seriously. Giving a child a book will test his reading and literacy skills. Putting a child in front of a 20/20 broadcast will confuse him. Reading books are meant for learning, not to expand one’s imagination. Children are not supposed to believe that television and video games are bad for them when this addictive hobby only makes them happy. It is only an excessive amount of television entertainment that will truly damage a child’s intellect. Adults, however, understand both how to read and the difference between reality and fantasy worlds and the effects television has on their intelligence.
People no longer know how to make up ideas independently. An example of how their society has become so unintelligent is when Mildred explains to Montag how her favorite television show works. She tells him, ‘“When it comes time for the missing lines, they all look at me out of the three walls and I say the lines.”’ (20). This television show that Mildred, and many other people in their society adore, is much like the popular twenty-first century nickelodeon cartoon, Dora the Explorer, which is aimed for toddlers. In their society the television shows come with a script and they have to say a line when it is their turn; the characters will just wait until you respond to proceed (20). This is a very strong example of how people in this society are choosing to spend their free time doing things that are not productive. Instead of reading a book or learning a new language, these people will rather sit in their parlors and waste time, because they are so unaccustomed to thinking and contemplating things. Since no one wants to question things, and think critically, their society cannot possibly be able to
For example, a good TV show that helps a child become smart and learn a couple things is Sesame’s Street. Sesame’s Street is kid’s show that’s been airing since the 1960’s. The show is consist of humans and puppets, who use comedy and cartoons to teach children educational things; based off songs and games (Sesame Workshop). I’ve seen this show work for children right in front of my face. Ever since I was sixteen I would go to my grandma’s Day Care and help her with the children. At her Day Care, Sesame’s Street was always being played. The kids would learn so many things from the show. There was one episode here Elmo and the Cookie Monster would sing the Alphabet in a song. It wasn’t like the original song, this one was different and catchy. So catchy that I’d find myself singing along the song too. I could definitely see that catchy song working for the kids too because every time I would see them, I would ask them the alphabet and they said to me, perfectly. So I absolutely disagree with Sach, parents shouldn’t keep their in a box and hide them from TV, instead they should search for the appropriate ones and show it to
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
...al, but the overall idea is to help others in the community, an important concept for children to learn. Most television shows for preschool aged children have a focus on helping others, but this show specifically focuses on math, and the segment of the episode “The Aquarium Fix-It” that focuses on measurement and helping others is fairly consistent with the sociocultural theory of learning. Knowing how well the sociocultural theory applies to education television shows is important because we need to strive to help children learn better and more efficiently. Figuring out what can be done to increase the effectiveness of television will improve our society as a whole.
Over time there has been a major debate over television and children. Some think that kids shouldn’t watch it, some say that it is okay in moderation, and others say it doesn’t have any effects. The real debate starts when one starts to talk about the content of the shows. Sesame Street is a show that most would say is for all ages, but is it truly educational? Can kids really learn from it?
When it comes to the topic of television, most of us would readily agree that watching television is a waste of time. Where the agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of “are there shows that increase our intelligence?” and what pleasure do some television show bring to us? I would say there are some great shows that increase our intelligence. Shows like “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?” this kind of show puts the brain to work; thinking. There are some other shows that tend to convince us that watching television seduces our mind. I find Johnson’s argument about his article “watching television makes you smarter” confusing because he was not actually picking sides in the article and Steven’s “Thinking Outside The Idiot Box” argument about how “it’s really good at teaching you to think… about the future episode” (Steven, 296). Although I agree with the author of “Watching Television Makes you Smarter” Johnson to an extent, I cannot accept that he overlooks how much time people spends each day watching television.
There are many facts that show how children are affected by television. The most obvious is the effects that television has on the brain. 'Television interferes with the development of intelligence, thinking skill and imagination.';(LimiTv) A huge element of thinking is taking from what you already know and deciding how it applies in different situation. School makes you do this, but television does not. Michael and Sheila Cole, sociologist, say that 'Children socialized to learn from television had lower than normal expectations about the amount of mental effort required to learn from written texts, and tended to read less and perform relatively poorly in school.';(Development of Children 24) Which means that it takes very little effort to follow a television show and kids are raised on television believe that it takes less effort to learn from television rather than books because they have been 'spoon-fed'; information by television. 'Opportunities for a child's imagination to develop are also denied by habitual viewing.'; (Neural Activity and the Growth of the Brain) Children need some unstructured time to allow imagination skills to form by thinking about a book or story, a conversation, or an event.
In United States, “Children watch 4 hours of television every day, 28 hours a week and, sometimes, 10 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Before their 18th birthday, children may view 25,000 hours of television” (Ni Chang 85). Nowadays, technology has been developed and used in many different ways. Many children spend large amount of time on IPad, smart phone, and computer. Clearly, television has played an important role in most of the younger age group’s life. As a parent, one of the biggest concerns about the influence that television has on the children is that they tend to become aggressive while they watch a lot of violent program. Communicating and engaging with one and other is limited because television has destroyed communication among family and removed children from the social interaction. Moreover, watching a lot of TV also contributes child obesity. Overall, television is harmful for children in their early development because it is not only going to delay their brain development, but also increase their aggressive behavior, and cause child obesity in a long term period.
Firstly, we can get a lot of new knowledge through learning. Television can be a powerful teacher. By watching we can learn valuable lessons about racial harmony, cooperation, kindness, simple arithmetic and the alphabet through an educational television format. Some public television programs stimulate visits to the zoo, libraries, bookstores, museums and other active recreational settings, and educational videos can certainly serve as powerful pro social teaching devices. The educational value has been shown to improve the reading and learning skills of its viewers. Reference from Wright JC, Huston; Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas stated some disadvantaged settings, healthy television habits may actually be a beneficial teaching tool. Objectively, it helps to improve the writing, reading and listening skills for young generation and makes interest too. In addition, it may be comes a motivation for youth to overcome their communication probl...
Benefits of watching television at the young age would be that children’s social skill, emotional skill and creativity can be improved by watching the talk shows; it is proved by a study. For example, Children can learn how to communicate with other people and how to react properly when they are asked to response. In addition, TV shows such as C.S.I Miami, Criminal Minds and Bones can teach children how to think logically and stragically. Although books can transfer the knowledge to the young generations, but it has limitations that certain facial expressions and body languages cannot be transferred by few words. Furthermore, the beautiful images of the nature on the tv screen can let the children to take a long travel from their home to the deep in the ocean, top of Mt.Everest or middle of Sahara the dessert.