TV May Inhibit Babies Language Development

In an article published by Time Magazine, “Study: TV May Inhibit Babies’ Language Development,” the author Alice Park studies the topic of delayed development in language of children who watch television. The article tackles the extensive issues of language development in children being delayed due to a result of arguably one of the greatest technological inventions, which is television. In order to review the credibility the article published in the Times Magazine, two academic journals were evaluated on the issue of language development delay in children or in other words infants who watch television, which are“Television Viewing Associates with Delayed Language Development” along with “Relationship between Television Viewing and Language

Researchers had focused on making sure that the issue was being addressed in their region, in which the location of the study took place in Korea. Byeon states, “the average daily TV watching time of Koreans is 3.1 hours, and one in every two Koreans (46.3%) responded that TV is the most essential medium in their daily lives” (2). And he proposes that the main reason for language delay in toddlers living in Korea was from this statistic. The research study consisted of 1778 children, around the age of two, where their linguistic ability was tested by the Korean-Ages and Stages Questionnaire. In addition, to strengthen the accuracy of research Byeon references the variables that are being surveyed, which are the mother’s education level, the household income, the pattern of communication between children, and a child’s sociability level. Byeon agrees in comparison with Korean and American lifestyle that “the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children under two years of age watch TV less than 2 hours a day on average” (6). Byeon concludes from his study that parents are mistaken by the belief that children who show signs of delay in their development of language should watch more TV; however, he argues that this is not the case or solution at all, but the cause of the problem for most part. He also focuses rather on the fact that television is a way for children to passively learn. Byeon ends with his claim, “In 2-year-old toddlers in Korea, watching TV for over 2 hours daily on average was linked with language delay. For the successful language development of young children, caregivers must provide children with communication