A fairly recent flourish in modern technology has changed nearly all aspects of contemporary life. One of these technological advances, made popular in the late 1940’s, was the invention of the television. Since their introduction, television and other new forms of entertainment media have taken off like rockets. These days, television and media are so integrated into daily life that many people could not imagine living without them. The public’s rapid grasp of entertainment media and its assimilation into American culture logically indicate that there must be positive benefits to using the new technologies. However, nothing is free from criticism. Parents and psychologists have recently come to question the effects of television and entertainment media on infants and young children. Some believe that the unnatural nature of television makes it fundamentally bad and unsuited for the development and learning of young children. Views like these have led the American Academy of Pediatrics to question if perhaps television and entertainment media should be “avoided” for infants and children younger than 2 years old. Their position highlights that children’s brains develop quickly during their first few years of life, and suggests that children learn better by interacting with real people instead of television screens. While this assertion may hold some truth, its basis is not strong enough to result in restricting parents’ use of television and entertainment media in raising their kids.
First, it is important to clarify what is meant by the word “avoid.” In this paper, we will interpret “avoid” as it is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary: “to stay away from; to prevent the occurrence of; to keep yourself from doing something ...
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...ork on teaching their children new words, considering that learning from a DVD is better than learning nothing at all. Additionally, even if the increases in word learning were not significant in the video conditions for this experiment, using the television and entertainment media did not cause any harm or decreases in learning.
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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...
Moody, Kate. Growing up on Television: the TV Effect: a Report to Parents. New York, NY: Times, 1980. Print.
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.
Dunn, J. (1999). Taming the Tube: Television Access and Literacy [Electronic version]. Home Education Magazine, March-April. Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/HEM/issue_index.html.
The entertainment that television is now portraying is not exactly what the younger society of America needs to be exposed to, but unfortunately in today's economy that is the only kind of entertainment that sells. There is so much unnecessary exposure to violence, aggressive behavior, and sexual acts now being broadcasted daily on television, movies, music, and even the news. The broadcasting systems are now targeting younger children and teens. The crime rates have skyrocketed due to delinquent juvenile behavior over the past ten years. The whole viewing society is now becoming very tolerant and at ease with sex and violence. Youth and children are picking up on these behaviors daily. Studies have shown that by the age of 18, the average American teen will have viewed around 200,000 acts of violence on television. The violence and sexual content that television and music are now portraying has negatively influenced younger children and teens to commit murder, exhibit aggressive behavior, and become tolerant of violence and sex.
...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.
...an be useful at certain age ranges, it does not appear that baby educational media works. Infants learn the best with their parents are the ones teaching them. The research done by DeLoache and colleagues (2010) and Krcmar and colleagues (2007) demonstrate this. The truth of the matter is that since the dawn of man, parents have always been there teaching their children to survive. Whether it was hunting, walking, or speaking, the interaction between the parent and the child will always be paramount in the child’s development. From the time they are born, babies see their parents, not the television, and it is from that moment that the child looks to their care giver for guidance. Perhaps as technology improves, and television becomes more interactive will we see a difference in how well these types of programs work, but for now nothing beats the real thing.
Anderson, Daniel R., et al. Early Childhood Television Viewing and Adolescent Behavior. Ed. Willis F. Overton. Boston: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. Print.
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 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
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
Palmer, Edward L. Children in the Cradle of Television. United States of America: D.C. Health, 1987.
'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...
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.