The Negative Influences of Television

For most families, television is a part of their life. It is important to evaluate the television experience carefully however, especially in terms of the effect it has on young children.

Too much television not only reduces the time spent on concrete learning activities, it can reduce their capacity to learn… Young children are naturally curious, busy and active, which allows them opportunities to learn about the world around them. Movement is the key to their development, as it allows them to develop their muscles, and through endless repetitions, they learn skills. At the same time, the child is learning about their social environment by interactions with other people and seeing the reactions to their behaviors from the people around them. Television is a passive experience, whether it is educational or based on fantasy. Educational TV does not offer the child opportunities to focus attention on one subject for a long period—the segments designed to “teach” young viewers, are short and frantic, which research has suggested may lead to a shortened attention span, lack of reflectiveness and an expectation of rapid change in the broader environment. Being one-way communication, TV doesn’t allow the child to respond and interact either, to improve and develop their communication skills. These are some of the negative influences of TV on our children, so what can we do? In moderation and with careful selection of programs (excluding any which depict violent superheroes or realistic looking violence) some monitored TV viewing is fine. Taking the time to watch selected programs together can help, by being available to explain concepts and soften the effect of undesirable portrayals. Simply turning off the TV however, is often easier than it may seem! Children thrive on adult attention and interaction and generally enjoy participating in the running of the household. Children need blocks of time left unplanned also, where they are on their own to fill their time. They may need some ideas at first to “get over the hump” and be creative, but once they’re off, they relish their newly found “free” time! “Taken from some resources with changes”