Television and Children: Friend or Foe

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Recommended: Literature review on impact of television on children

In the United States, 96.7 percent of American households own television sets (Nielsen, 2011). Whether it is watching the news to catch up on what is going on in the world, or checking the road conditions for the morning rush hour; television has become a necessity in every household. Television gives people the ability to take a break from life and melt away into a different world. Children in particular, have become overly attached to TV. In many cases children are being left in front of the television for hours to entertain themselves. Children learn from what see adults and other children do. Parents or guardians must take the proper steps to become a more effective role model by changing their own habits and lifestyles. What can be done to reach out to parents and children to help them take the needed steps to lead a better and more productive life? Television teaches important life skills, but creates a bad influence on children’s behavior because of inappropriate content and the sedentary lifestyle it creates.

Today’s economic situation has created a life where either both parents are forced to work to earn a living or children are residing in a single family home. Television has taken the place of parental guidance and in recent years fewer children have a full time parent at home to guide them. In a recent study, over two-thirds of all three to five-year-old children are cared for by someone other than their parents, compared to a fifth in 1970 (Mintz, 2012) . Parents are stricter with their children and usually act in their best interest; in short no one can care for a child like their parent(s) can. When children are left with babysitters or at daycare centers, television is used as a means to control ...

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...z, S. (01/2012). The Modern Family. Retrieved from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/modernfamily.cfm

Mistry, K. B., Minkovitz, C. S., Strobino, D. M., & Borzekowski, D. L. (2007, October). Children's Television Exposure and Behavioral and Social Outcomes at 5.5 Years : Does Timing of Exposure Matter? Pediatrics, 120(No. 4), 762-769.

Nickelodeon's World Wide Day of Play Press Site. (2011, September). Retrieved from http://www.nickpress-worldwidedayofplay.com/prosocialhistory.html

Nielsen, T. (2011, May). Nielsen Estimates Number of U.S. Television Homes to be 114.7 Million. Retrieved from http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/Nielsen-estimates-number-of-u-s-television-homes-to-be-114-7-million/

Shulman, J. (2004). Television and kids: link to behavioural problems.. Alive: Canada’s Natural Health & Wellness Magazine, 264(264), 84-86

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