As Americans we should be very concerned about the effect that television is having on our children. Today's children watch far too much television. As a result, a number of horrific conditions occur, which could have easily been prevented, if we as parents and caregivers simply would get off of our lazy butts and just turn off the tube. The National Coalition for Children and Families states, "By the time adolescents graduate from high school, they will have spent 15,000 hours watching television, compared with 12,000 hours spent in the classroom." The influence that television is having on America's children is having alarming results. Everyday we are seeing more and more children with developmental delays, distorted realities, and just plain laziness. Children as young a one year old and younger are influenced by television, and the effects have already begun to take place before we even notice that the baby is watching.
Television has become a complete nuisance. It has taken hold of our children's lives and it is sucking their energy, creativity, and personalities right out of them. There are many educators, caregivers, and parents who are under the belief that television is an essential learn tool and has helped many children to advance beyond their age level. Many shows such as Blue's Clues, Sesame Street, and Barney are geared to teaching young children between the ages of 2 - 5. But the truth of the matter is children at this tender age are watching television without receiving any personal interaction. One on one interaction is a key developmental tool that is so desperately needed for toddlers to be able to progress in learning. But a line must be drawn when we allow television to be the sol...
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...ll this help them to create a healthier lifestyle, but it will also help them to build their immune systems against disease. Grab a book and sit down and read to your child or have them read to you. This will help to develop their vocabulary and personal interaction skills, and not to mention its fun too. Another great idea is to pull out a game and sit down and play with your children. This will not only teach them many valuable skills, but also give them great memories for years to come. Basically it's about getting back to parenting. Learning together, and teaching each other new things, will help to develop a great relationship between the two of you. Give the babysitter (the television) the night off and just spend time with your kids. If you can do this, your children will be smarter and more secure, not to mention happier, healthier members of society.
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...
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
...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.
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.
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
"Television and Children (Child Development Institute)." Child Development Institute - Keeping Parents Informed on child development, psychology, parenting. Child Development Institute, 2000-2010. Web. 03 Feb. 2010. .
Although it is not significant for children to watch television programs between the ages of two and six, the exposure to specific shows may be beneficial. Specifically, focusing on Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues, the information and methods used during the show may help children learn basic social skills, such as the alphabet, number line, and basic social skills. By presenting information from multiple perspectives and settings, the children are able to recognize how to approach different situations. Also, by incorporating real-life experiences such as September 11th and Hurricane Katrina helps the child engage and understand the real-world around them (Gikow, 2009).
By the time the average American turns sixty-five, he will have spent nine years of his life watching television (Television & Health). The behavior starts at a very young age. Shows featuring bright colors, rapid movement, and repetitive sound appeal even to infants. As children grow many parents begin using the television as a babysitter. They turn on the television to keep the children occupied while they clean, cook, and work. It is inexpensive and highly effective. Not to mention varied. There is education, animation, music, celebrity gossip, politics, news, and much more. Children grow into adulthood, cradled by their digital mothers; all the while, being inundated with best and worst that their culture has to offer.
...the exposure of media at home is also another common ground factor needed to establish a working solution. Jami VanCamp, the author of a review journal on “The Other Parent, The Inside Story of The Media’s Effect on Our Children” writes “Revealing that an astounding 66% of our children actually have televisions in their bedrooms, Steyer examines hour our society has allowed the media to saturate our children’s live” (pg 1) Monitoring the use of these 66% or even lowering the percentage is a possible solution towards monitoring and controlling media in children’s lives. The success of coming to a solution towards the problems, concerns, and issued faces when surrounding children in an ever changing world surrounded by media of different types and kinds is essential to the success of countries around the globe as well as the prevention and saving of lives throughout.
Palmer, E.L. (1988). Television and America's children: A crisis of neglect. New York: Oxford University Press.
Studies and statistical data has been recorded and analyzed not only in America, but also in other parts of the world. In Canada, most households have more than one television set. In 1986, “98% of homes had a television” (Liebert & Sparfkin, 1988). Based on Liebert & Sparfkin’s research, at only six months an infant will spend about 50% of the time watching TV. At age two, the child will devote approximately 78% of the time watching children programs. (Liebert & Sparfkin, 1988) In this day and age children programs are not the same as they used to be, for shows such as Dragon Ball Z ...
Television has become one of the major entertainment providers in our modern life. It sits in the living room of about almost every home in the world and it is the one thing that most people like to come home to after a long day of work or school. Not only does it give us something to laugh or get scared at but it also provides us with valuable information about what is happening around our local community and around different places in the world. But, as good as this sounds, Television may be affecting us without even realizing it. Being one of the major distractors in today 's society, it gets us attached to its content in which a lot of people spend a lot of their time watching. Being thus, watching too
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.
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.