Television is by far the most popular and influential form of mass media. Children are exposed to television as early as infancy, by the time they are two-years-old, 90 percent of children regularly watch TV. Television has the ability to have tremendous impact of children, both in terms of how many hours a week they watch TV and what they are viewing on TV. Television affects children 's behavior, health, cognitive development, and learning. In this paper I will be arguing that Television does more harm than good on a child’s life. “On average, children ages two to five spend 32 hours a week in front of a TV watching DVDs, DVR and videos, and using a game console. Kids age’s six to eleven spend about 28 hours a week in front of the TV.” …show more content…
“The average American child will witness 200,000 violent acts on television by age 18”. Furthermore children who view violent TV shows or movies are more likely to be argumentative and act out in class or be the class bully. Studies have shown that children who engage in violent TV viewing are more unwilling to cooperate and are desensitized or numb to violence. In the future this can cause children who view more violent TV to become violent as teenagers and have more encounters with the law as adults. Parents need to be more diligent in demonstrating that the violence their children view on TV is not real nor should their children act it out because actions have consequences in the real world unlike that on …show more content…
The first step parents can take is to not introduce television to children less than two years of age. Parents also need to control the amount of time their children watch TV and supervise what their children are watching. Parents and caretakers can also replace TV time with other fun activities that can stimulate children’s senses and allow them to engage in outdoor activities. I also think that parents and caretakers can set an example for children by limiting their individual TV time. Lastly, I believe that cable companies are equally responsible for what they choose to commercial when young children are viewing their programs, for instance such as controlling the advertisement. They could possibly monitor the content of TV programs and movies for violent and inappropriate content and limit violent commercials and excessive consumerism of unhealthy foods and drinks and instead replace it positive influences like healthy eating and
In “Television Harms Children”, Ann Vorisek White claims that the intellectual and cognitive development of children who frequently watch television is threatened. To support this claim, she points to the findings that “the more television children watch, the weaker their language skills and imaginations” (White, 2006). Before the brain fully matures around age 12, it is in the stage of rapid development. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “recommends that children under the age of two not watch TV or videos, and that older children watch only one to two hours per day of nonviolent, educational TV” (White, 2006). A study from the AAP (as cited in White, 2006) found that the average American child watches four hours of television every day. Considering "expression and reasoning are not automatic" abilities, young children who routinely watch television eventually become "passive and nonverbal" to stimuli in their environment (White, 2006). Since the normality of curiosity and imaginations of young children are the foundation of how they learn, remaining passive for extended periods of time affects their intellectual and moral development.
addition the average American child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television including 16,000 murders before the age of 18 (DuRant, 445). Polls show that three-quarters of the public find television entertainment too violent. When asked to select measures that would reduce violent crime “a lot”, Americans chose restrictions on television violence more often than gun control. Media shows too much violence that is corrupting the minds children, future leaders of our society. In a study of population data for various countries sh...
It may be hard to admit, but television has become an intricate part of our everyday lives. People children often find themselves sitting in front of the television screen for a longer period of time than before and this has evolved immensely over the past few years. In this article, “The Trouble with Television,” by the author Marie Winn, mentions that addiction of television is negative effects on children and families. It keeps the families from doing other things and it’s a hidden competitor for all other activities. Television takes place of play and on top of that kids who watch a lot of television grow uncivilized. Also, the author mentioned that televisions are less resourceful for children and have negative effects on children’s school achievement and on physical fitness. Although there are so many other types of addictions but the author Marie Winn’s points of argument of watching television is a serious addiction that our children and families have negative effects.
Television has become a big part in children’s day-to-day lives especially in the 20th century. Children in this century rely on television to keep them entertained and educated instead of entertaining and educating themselves by participating in activities, which will teach them a lot more in life then the actual television. There is no doubt that children are most easily influenced by television because of the different content that they watch as well as the amount of time consumed watching TV. The television does have an emotional and intellectual development on children but this all depends on the content that they’re watching and the way that they absorb the information that the show is trying to send out. Different programs will portray
Youth and children are picking up on these behaviors daily. Studies have shown that by the age of 18, the average American teen will have viewed around 200,000 acts of violence on television. The violence and sexual content that television and music are now portraying has negatively influenced younger children and teens to commit murder, exhibit aggressive behavior, and become tolerant of violence and sex. The negative influence television has begun to have on children is unreal. Americans seem to ask themselves what brings about such things as the Columbine shootings, eleven-year-olds murdering toddlers, and an increase in teen rapes.
For a long time now the debate has been, and continues to be, as to whether or not violence on television makes children more violent. As with all contentious issues there are both proponents and detractors. This argument has been resurrected in the wake of school shootings, most notably Columbine and Erfurt, Germany; and acts of random violence by teenagers, the murders of two Dartmouth professors. Parents, teachers, pediatricians, child psychiatrists, and FCC Chairmen William Kennard and former Vice President Al Gore say violent TV programming contribute in large part to in violence in young people today. However, broadcasters and major cable TV providers like Cox Communication say that it is the parent’s fault for not making it clear to their kids as what they may or may not watch on TV. The major TV networks and cable providers also state it is the TV industry’s fault as well for not regulating what is shown on TV. So who is the guilty party in this argument of whether or not TV violence influences of the behavior young people in today’s society?
Television is a distraction for children and can hurt their cognitive abilities if they watch too much because it is non interactive. In the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Helena Duch and colleagues mentioned that the American Academy of Pediatrics advises, “parents avoid exposing children 2 and under to screen media, a nationally representative survey found that 68% of children under the age of 2 use screen media in a typical day, and that average screen time was 2.05 hours per day” (Dutch et al 2). Children live in a world full of screens, ranging from iPhones, TVs, to tablets and computers. Drastic brain development occurs during the ages of 1-3 and exposing them to too much screen time of any kind can have negative effects on them (Hopkins 27). Putting them in front of a screen also steals away from times they could be talking, playing, and interacting with their surroundings. Pediatrician Dr. Michael Rich claims that shows d...
Television has been around for over a half century. The first view of TV in the United States took place at a World's Fair in 1939, but standard television broadcasting did not begin until the late 1940s. Worry about the influence of television on children began when TV was in its early years. Early on in the 1950s, educators and parents began to ask legislators to "do something" about the amount of violence on TV. This concern still exists today. Parents have reservations about the quality of television programs intended for children, the amount of advertising aimed at young viewers, and the manner in which television depicts men, women and ethnic minorities. There are also apprehensions about the effects of the amount of time that children spend watching television in general.
As of 2007, ninety nine percent of households in the United States have at least one television, and the average American watches more than four hours of TV each day (Herr). This comes to a total of twenty-eight hours per week, and collectively, a rough 250 billion hours of television per year. Of these statistics, children have grown to become the leading factor in how much TV is on during the day. Studies have shown that children have spent about 400 more hours watching television than they spend in school overall. The same studies have also shown that children spend an estimated 1700 minutes watching television per week, when they only have about three and a half minutes worth of conversation with their parents. That means that for every minute a child talks with their parent, they watch 480 minutes worth of ...
Children between two and eleven years of age watch an average of 25 hours of television a week.(Children's Television) Which means that children spend more time watching television than in school. With that statistic it is no wonder why this is such a huge problem that this nation has to deal with.
The media in general reduces the different values of life, also makes violence and even death, which seem funny and unreal that children do not learn to respect themselves and in general, because of the violent television that is influencing them even more. If parents ignore or approve of their child's aggressive behavior, or if they lose control too easily themselves, a TV control plan will not help at all. In the same way, if parents themselves show violent behavior, they serve as role models for their children too.
Summary #1 Television violence, and media violence in general, has been a controversial topic for several years. The argument is whether young children are brainwashed into committing violent real-world crimes because of violent and pugnacious behavior exposed in mass media. In his article “No Real Evidence for TV Violence Causing Real Violence”, Jonathan Freedman, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and author of “Media Violence and Its Effect on Aggression: Assessing the Scientific Evidence”, discusses how television violence, claimed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), does not cause real-world aggression among adolescents. The FCC determined to restrict violent television programming to late night hours only because their “scientific research” proves of increasing aggression among young viewers (Freedman Par. 2).
Without a doubt, television is the central and principal form of communication in many people’s lives. This form is most often exposed to a child who instantly becomes accustomed to its presence. Children are televisions largest audience, as Morris shows, “Children aged two to five look at the TV tube on an average of 28.4 hours a week; those between the ages of six and eleven average 23.6 hours a week”. Television has played an important role in many children’s lives and its viewing has been a favorite activity for many of them. The effects of television on children have been disputed. Some people have said that viewing time has a negative impact on children. Other people, however, feel that the early educational television productions for children help tehm learn.
By the time a child reaches the age of one, they see about 200,000 acts of violence on television. (Nakaya, 3). The Media has been becoming more and more violent over the years. A poll in an issue of Times Magazine, from 2005, showed that 66 percent of Americans think that there is an abundant amount of graphic acts of violence on televisions (Nakaya, 18). People are exposed to thousands of acts of violence through video games, television, and movies. Many studies show that media violence increases violent behavior in in humans. Studies show, violent video games, and graphic television have physiological effects on children. The government has very few regulations on media violence. Some people believe the government shouldn’t limit content because others might be insulted by its material. Media violence is such a broad topic and has such a large presence in daily lives, so we cannot simple get rid of it. The Federal Communications Commission stipulates, “By the time most children begin the third grade, they will have spent the equivalent of three school years in front of a television set.” Even though the government shouldn’t censor the media, Media violence is becoming a serious issue because it is becoming more violent, it makes people behave violently, and it has little regulations.
Benefits of watching television at the young age would be that children’s social skill, emotional skill and creativity can be improved by watching the talk shows; it is proved by a study. For example, Children can learn how to communicate with other people and how to react properly when they are asked to response. In addition, TV shows such as C.S.I Miami, Criminal Minds and Bones can teach children how to think logically and stragically. Although books can transfer the knowledge to the young generations, but it has limitations that certain facial expressions and body languages cannot be transferred by few words. Furthermore, the beautiful images of the nature on the tv screen can let the children to take a long travel from their home to the deep in the ocean, top of Mt.Everest or middle of Sahara the dessert.