Television_and_Childre

Television and Children: The effect of television on children COM/156 June 3, 2012 University of Phoenix: Television and Children: The effect of television on children Children have been exposed to television ever since the 1950s, by the 1970s television was a constant figure in the day to day life of children which have had profound effects on them both negative and positive. Television is a form of entertainment for children, if not done in moderation the effect of television on a child brain can be dangerous and permanent. Television (TV) have been the first teacher for most children, they enter the world of TV years before they enter the school system. Majority of kids are exposed to television before they are even 12 months of age which could have permanent effect on the child development. Research has shown that American children spent about 3 to 4 hours a day in front of the television. “Television is a one-way street. According to Nielsen statistics, children between the ages of 2-5 years typically spend approximately 21.8 hours each week watching television. That works out to approximately three hours each day, or 25 percent of their time awake.” (David Perlmutter). If parent and caretakers do not regulate television viewing of children, they will have spent more hours watching television that they would have spent in the classroom which may influence their performance through the school years (The American Academy of Pediatrics) (AAP). Prolong television viewing have had both positive and negative influence on the brain development of children between the ages 0 to preteen. Some of the positive influence on children is as follow: study have shown that TV viewing between the ages of three to five has help reading scores improve slightly (University of Michigan health system). TV viewing can be informative to children. They can learn things about their history and back ground, environment, how to solve problems and is some cases they learn communication stills. It is a form of entertainment and children can watch television when they are bored and have nothing to do at home, watching television it a form of relaxation. And last, with the use of the television they can insert or plug interactive video games that they can learn and play with while relaxing and have fun with their family and friends. The more I investigate the topic the more I realized that TV is a form of mass media which have significant amount of negative effects on children brain. Television viewing before the age of three years of age can be detrimental to the brain development. Overload of TV viewing have been blamed for the passive learners who have difficulty paying attention and concentrating on tasks for extensive period of time which is the cause of lower test scores, it have also influence the amount of time kids spent reading and doing school work. Extensive TV viewing has cause immorality and aggression which is the main reason for obesity and low self-esteem amount children and teenagers. The viewing of TV have exposed kids to sex and violence which they sometime use during role playing and interaction with other kids. Television viewing before age three slightly hurt several measures of later cognitive development (University of Michigan health system). The advantages of TV viewing: One can explore the world and different culture and animals for example channels like Discovery, Animal Planet, History provides current and old information with equal ease. This opens and stimulates the analytical of most children. TV can be used as a learning and entertainment tool which can bring family together. The disadvantages of TV viewing: Lack of adult monitoring makes it easier to show anything on television, some of the contents contain violence, sex and other inappropriate material, which should not be expose to children. The Television viewing may restrict children enjoying other activities for example children need to interact with other to develop language and communication still, they also need outdoor physical activities which is healthy growth and development. The constant inactivity can led into over eating which can result in childhood obesity. Television is a form of mass media which is use as a form of targeted advertising. Targeted advertising is targeting a certain audience that will be amiable towards the products or services advertised. According to the AAP, “kids in the United States see 40,000 commercials each year. From the junk food and toy advertisements during Saturday morning cartoons to the appealing promos on the backs of cereal boxes, marketing messages inundate kids of all ages.” For example my daughter dumps out a box of cereal, when question she reply the commercial said there is a toy in every book. Marketers and promoters take advantages of our children everyday by targeted advertising because kids under age 8 have a hard time understanding and know the difference between the commercial and the actual show. They also do not realize that the people in the commercial is try to sell this toys to them. Sometimes we as parents have to use the information on TV to help start the conversation. For instance when ever my 7year old mention something from a show I will give her a background on the actor and actress I will explain to her that it is not real and that they an acting I even went as far as tell her sometime an 18 year old can play a 14 year old. Parents have to take the opportunity to interact with the kid even when they are watching TV so the development process can always improve. The negative influence of TV is greater than the positive. After investigating the influence of Television on children I have come to the conclusion that TV is a negative influence on children and if parents do not monitor their children TV intake they can suffer from overeating, low self-esteem and poor brain development which can result it obesity and poor school performances. References Boyse, K. (August,2010). Your child development and behavior resources. Retrieved from http://www.med.mich.edu KidsHealth. (2011, October). How TV affect your child. Retrieved from http://Kidshealth.org Perlmutter, D. (2012, June). Brain Development: How Much TV Should Children Watch. Retrieved from http:// huffingtonpost.com Vandewater, E. A., Brickham, D. S., & Lee, J. H. (2006,February). Time well spent' Relating to television se to children's free-time activities.. Official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 117(2), 181-191. Retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappbilication.org