Media and Children

The influence of the media on the psychosocial development of children is profound.
Thus, it is
important for physicians to discuss with parents their child’s exposure to media and to provide
guidance on age-appropriate use of all media, including television, radio, music, video games
and the Internet.
The objectives of this statement are to explore the beneficial and harmful effects of media on
children’s mental and physical health, and to identify how physicians can counsel patients and
their families and promote the healthy use of the media in their communities.
TELEVISION
Television has the potential to generate both positive and negative effects, and many studies have
looked at the impact of television on society, particularly on children and adolescents. An
individual child’s developmental level is a critical factor in determining whether the medium will
have positive or negative effects. Not all television programs are bad, but data showing the
negative effects of exposure to violence, inappropriate sexuality and offensive language are
convincing.
 Nowadays children watch excessive amounts of television.

 There is a relationship between watching violent television programming and an increase in
violent behaviour by children.
 Excessive television watching contributes to the increased incidence of childhood obesity.
 Excessive television watching may have a deleterious effect on learning and academic
performance.
 Watching certain programs may encourage irresponsible sexual behaviour.
 Television is an effective way of advertising products to children of various ages.
Television viewing frequently limits children’s time for vital activities such as playing, reading,
learning to talk, spending time with peers and family, storytelling, participating in regular
exercise, and developing other necessary physical, mental and social skills. In addition to the
amount of time spent in front of the television, other factors that influence the medium’s effect
on children include the child’s developmental level, individual susceptibility and whether
children watch television alone or with their parents.
Learning
Television can be a powerful teacher. Watching Sesame Street is an example of how toddlers 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 prosocial teaching devices. The educational
value of Sesame Street, has been shown to improve the reading and learning skills of its viewers.
In some disadvantaged settings, healthy television habits may actually be a beneficial teaching
tool.
Still, watching television takes time away from reading and schoolwork. More recent and well-
controlled studies show that even 1 h to 2 h of daily unsupervised television viewing by school-
aged children has a significant deleterious effect on academic performance, especially reading.
Violence
The amount of violence on television is on the rise. The average child sees 12,000 violent acts on
television annually, including many depictions of murder and rape. More than 1000 studies
confirm that exposure to heavy doses of television violence increases aggressive behaviour,
particularly in boys. Other studies link television or newspaper publicity of suicides to an
increased suicide risk.
The following groups of children may be more vulnerable to violence on television:
 children from minority and immigrant groups;

 emotionally disturbed children;
 children with learning disabilities;
 children who are abused by their parents; and
 children in families in distress.
Nutrition
Because television takes time away from play and exercise activities, children who watch a lot of
television are less physically fit and more likely to eat high fat and high energy snack foods.
Television viewing makes a substantial contribution to obesity because prime time commercials
promote unhealthy dietary practices. The fat content of advertised products exceeds the current
average Canadian diet and nutritional recommendations, and most food advertising is for high
calorie foods such as fast foods, candy and presweetened cereals. Commercials for healthy food
make up only 4% of the food advertisements shown during children’s viewing time. The number
of hours of television viewing also corresponds with an increased relative risk of higher
cholesterol levels in children. Television can also contribute to eating disorders in teenage girls,
who may emulate the thin role models seen on television. Eating meals while watching television
should be discouraged because it may lead to less meaningful communication and, arguably,
poorer eating habits.
Sexuality
Today, television has become a leading sex educator in the world. Teens rank the media as the
leading source of information about sex, second only to school sex education programs.
Numerous studies document adolescents’ susceptibility to the media’s influence on their sexual
attitudes, values and beliefs.
Some people believe that the media can influence sexual responsibility by promoting birth
control, such as condom use
Alcohol and smoking
Teenagers see between 1000 and 2000 beer commercials carrying the message that ‘real’ men
drink beer. Convincing data suggest that advertising increases beer consumption.
Tobacco products are not advertised directly on television. However, passive promotion occurs
when, for example, a soap opera star lights a cigarette in a ‘macho’ act, a Formula One race car
has cigarette advertising on it or sporting events carry the names of tobacco companies. There is
evidence that passive advertising, which glamorizes smoking, has increased over the past few
years. These may lead to negative influence among children and teenagers.

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The influence of the media on the psychosocial development of children is profound.

 Nowadays children watch excessive amounts of television.

The following groups of children may be more vulnerable to violence on television:

 children from minority and immigrant groups;

Alcohol and smoking

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