Excessive television watching by children severely compromises a child’s physical and emotional condition. Yet, few parent understand the important relationship between TV viewing and their child’s health. The inactivity associated with too much TV along with a child’s vulnerability to the messages of mass marketing lead to numerous physical problems such as obesity, a poor diet and the loss of manual dexterity. Heavy TV viewing is also associated with the poor development of certain parts of the brain which lead to academic difficulty and behavioral disorders. Parents must be made to understand that using the television as a babysitter results in many harmful problems and possibly a lifetime of suffering and disease.
According to a study cited by the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the majority of children reported spending 3 hours per day watching television. The study consisted of small group interviews with 180 parents and children ages 6 to 13. The study found that although parents have restrictions on the types of television programs their children watch, they do not limit the actual time they spend watching television. “Interviews revealed that for many of these families there is a lack of concern that television viewing is a problem for their child”. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that children over age 2 spend less than two hours per day with screen media, because too much watching has been linked to several physical, academic, and behavioral problems (Heitzler et al.).
Since television viewing takes away time from physical activity, children who watch too much television are more susceptible to being overweight. “A number of studies have linked being overweight with TV watching, because ...
... middle of paper ...
...hild development experts agree violent media in a child’s life must be eliminated in order to prevent its harmful effects upon a child’s view of the world and society. Parents must become actively engaged in their child’s television viewing habits and ensure their children reach their maximum capabilities in life.
Works Cited
Endsley, Richard C., and Surbeck, Elaine. Children’s Emotional Reactions to TV Violence: Effects of Film Character, Reassurance, Age, and Sex. n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.
Health Effects of Excessive TV Watching by Children. LimiTV. N.p. n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.
Heitzler, Carrie D., Hersey, James C., Jordan, Amy B., and McDivitt, Judith A. Reducing Children’s Television-Viewing Time: A Qualitative Study of Parents and Their Children. Pediatrics. American Academy of Pediatrics. 7 June 2006. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.
162). Notably with social theory evidence shows, kids who watch TV are more likely to continue in aggressive behaviors as adults.” One study found that kids who watch more than an hour of TV each day are more likely to participate in acts of aggression later in life. One reason for this is that watching TV for long periods may create changes in a child’s personality and cognition that produce long-term behavior changes. “Dmitri Christakis and his associates found that for every hour of television watched daily between the ages of one and three the risk of developing attention problems increased nine percent over the life course; attention problems have been linked to antisocial behaviors.” (PG.
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.
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 essay "Why We Tuned Out" by Karen Springen she brings up many facts of how TV is bad for kids. She has many details explaining her topic and contains some good advice of how TV is bad for children. She claims that children who watch television more than 10 hours a week are likely to become overweight and are slow to learn in school. TV contains many events in our social life. It contains many educated channels, but some that arn't willing for kids to watch.
Violence and explicit themes on television have been a main benefactor in behavioral problems in children, causing educational issues as well. Studies have shown that “excessive TV viewing can lead to poor grades in school” (Boyse Online). TV has even been shown to affect the mood of the child, usually “TV doesn’t improve their disposition. They’re grouchy and irritable right after they watch” (Winn 19). When violence is included in speech or an action a child’s favorite show or movie it wouldn’t be uncommon if that youth would try to imitate it. “Many shows glamorize violence. TV often promotes violent acts as a fun and effective way to get what you want, without consequences, Even in G rated movies violence is common” (Boyse Online). As children are growing it’s important what parents put in the stomach’s of their child so it’s also important what being fed to their brain. This makes them vulnerable and susce...
Dowshen, Steven. (October 2011). “How T.V. Affects Your Child.” Kidshealth.org. Retrieved March 18th,2014, from http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html
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.
Every year, the average American child spends nearly twice as much time watching television than they do in a classroom (Television & Health). This usage...
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.
Over the course of time television has changed very abruptly and will keep changing throughout history. Before television was invented the children in american society would interact with each other through physical activities. Now children spend more time watching television, video games, and computers then engaging in sports that may keep them healthy. “A 2005 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that children ages 8 to 18 spend more time in front of computer, television, and game screens than any other activity in their lives except sleep...
Many times watching television is a source of entertainment for many people. It is a source of entertainment because people are able to entertain themselves by watching movies, reality programs or series in the comfort of their houses. The truth is the watching television is a source of relaxation for several people; however, it is also important to understand the presence that television has on children’s lives. A study shows that children ages from 2 to 5 years spend 32 hours watching television, and many other electronic devices. (Boyse, 2010). Furthermore, it is important to understand that the ones who love to watch television more than anyone else are the children. In part this is because they follow the same behavior as their parents and siblings when they have one, but it is also due to that fact that television is now creating
To many children, TV can be appealing because they find the colorful cartoons interesting and instantly catches their attention. But, as entertaining and fun Television can be, spending too much time looking at your big fifty inch flat screen TV can eventually impact your life. It seems like if you just spend all your time sitting on the couch, you may find yourself preparing fast meals, such as a ham sandwich thrown with some potato chips on a plate or just driving to buying something from McDonald’s. But this can eventually affect your health. If we give Television too much attention it can also affect relationships with parents, siblings or a partner. It can slowly become an easy addiction to come home to, sit on the couch and spend the rest of the day watching all the shows we like. Lastly, too much Television can affect our mood which can lead to certain thinking and
Without a doubt, television is the central and principal form of communication in many people’s lives. This form is most often exposed to a child who instantly becomes accustomed to its presence. Children are televisions largest audience, as Morris shows, “Children aged two to five look at the TV tube on an average of 28.4 hours a week; those between the ages of six and eleven average 23.6 hours a week”. Television has played an important role in many children’s lives and its viewing has been a favorite activity for many of them. The effects of television on children have been disputed. Some people have said that viewing time has a negative impact on children. Other people, however, feel that the early educational television productions for children help tehm learn.
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.