Effect of TV On Children - Article
Effect of TV On Children - Article
Effect of TV On Children - Article
It is hard to avoid television if you are a kid. People in the house are usually tuned in to TV
siblings as well as parents. In some homes, the television is perpetually on even without
anyone watching. It is common for parents and caregivers to use TV as a substitute
babysitter. Also, many parents buy videos that they think can make their kids smart. But
how does watching TV really affect children?
The bad news is, the majority of experts think that a TV/video-driven culture has bad
effects on kids and may prevent kids from being smart. They cite the following:
TV provides no educational benefits for a child under age 2. Worse, it steals time
for activities that actually develop her brain, like interacting with other people and
playing. A child learns a lot more efficiently from real interaction with people and
things, rather than things she sees on a video screen.
TV viewing takes away the time that your child needs to develop important skills
like language, creativity, motor, and social skills. These skills are developed in the
kids first two years (a critical time for brain development) through play,
exploration, and conversation. Your kids language skills, for example, do not
improve by passively listening to the TV. It is developed by interacting with people,
when talking and listening is used in the context of real life.
TV viewing numbs your kids mind as it prevents your child from exercising
initiative, being intellectually challenged, thinking analytically, and using his
imagination.
TV viewing takes away time from reading and improving reading skills through
practice (Comstock, 1991). Kids watching cartoons and entertainment television
during pre-school years have poorer pre-reading skills at age 5 (Macbeth, 1996).
Also, kids who watch entertainment TV are also less likely to read books and other
print media (Wright & Huston, 1995).
According to Speech and language expert Dr. Sally Ward, 20 years of research show
that kids who are bombarded by background TV noise in their homes have trouble
paying attention to voices when there is also background noise.
Kids who watch a lot of TV have trouble paying attention to teachers because they
are accustomed to the fast-paced visual stimulation on TV. Kids who watch TV
more than they talk to their family have a difficult time adjusting from being visual
learners to aural learners (learning by listening). They also have shorter attention
spans.
School kids who watch too much TV also tend to work less on their homework.
When doing homework with TV on the background, kids tend to retain less skill and
information. When they lose sleep because of TV, they become less alert during the
day, and this results in poor school performance.
Kids who watch too much TV are usually overweight, according to the American
Medical Association. Kids often snack on junk food while watching TV. They are
also influenced by commercials to consume unhealthy food.
running, jumping, or doing activities that burn calories and increase metabolism.
Obese kids, unless they change their habits, tend to be obese when they become
adults. A recent study confirms this finding, suggesting that even just an hour of
TV is associated with childhood obesity.
Researchers from the University of Sydney report a link between total screen time
and retinal artery width in children. Kids with lots of screen time were found to
have narrow artery in their eyes, which may indicate heart risk.
TV watching also affects a childs health and athletic ability. The more television a
child watches, even in the first years of life, the more likely he is to be obese and less
muscularly fit, according to a study by the University of Montreal. Even though your
kid does not aspire to be a football star, his athletic abilities are important not only
for physical health, but predicting how physically active he will be as an adult.
Every hourly increase in daily television watching from two and a half years old is
also associated with bullying by classmates, and physical prowess at kindergarten,
said Professor Linda Pagani of the University of Montreal and the CHU SainteJustine childrens hospital.