Eng 49
Negative Effects of Television
Although television has its advantages, in that it is informative and at the same entertaining, it has its share of detrimental effects on children. Does it affect social, cognitive, emotional and physical development of a child? This is the question that psychologists, parents and teachers continue to debate. Television exposes children to other global events, cultures and ideas, some of which are questionable in relation to the psychological and physical health of a child. Being a prevalent media, children spend most of their time watching television if their parents or primary caregivers fail to regulate them regarding the content or habit. The statement addresses the detrimental effects of television on young children.
First of all, one of the effects of television watching on young children is increased exposure to violence. Media violence could desensitize children, make them scary or facilitate aggressive behavior. Desensitization is manifested when a child fails to respond to stimuli due to frequent exposure to violence hence declined arousal of emotional suffering in real situations. For example, Fischer points out that, “Televised violence in form of “action” is portrayed as comical, sanitized and glamorized thus exposing children to aggression”. I noted aggressive behavior in my small brother who always retort especially after watching his favorite show that comprises of rude language and fights. Currently, he cheers when he witnesses street fights and talks fond of them, which indicates that he is desensitized.
Moreover, TV has been associated with negative effect on a child’s development, which could deter their learning potential. Children who spend much time watching TV neglect the time to acquire essential skills such as creativity, motor, and language as well as other social skills. Children below two years of age can fail to acquire optimum brain development facilitated by play, adventure and communication. Therefore, a child could become numb since he/ she lacks the initiative, challenge, and utilization of imaginative and analytical capabilities, notes Owens (2). This is because when a child’s only exposure is watching television, she could have a distorted view of the world and unable to brainstorm if faced with harder tasks in future.
Since TV watching is sedentary, it has been implicated as a causative factor of prevalence of childhood obesity. This is because people just sit on couches, sometimes eating, with no physical activity or talking when their favorite show is aired. During my free time, I opt for my favorite show rather than ride a bicycle in the park or go swimming with my friends. According to the article “Television-viewing habits and sleep disturbance in school Children” by Owens, Judith, TV commercials that encourage consumption of junk food such as candy, soda, and fast food. This has been cited as a contributor to childhood obesity since it influences consumer behavior. After seeing an advert of some soft drinks or candy, sometimes I am inclined to pick it next time I go to the supermarket. This high fat and sugar consumption in turn leads to overweight and obesity, which ultimately develops into diabetes and high blood pressure.
Another negative effect of watching television on children is exposure to sexual content, drugs and violence that could shape their behavior in future. Fischer points that; “Televised violence has become more graphical with sexual elements such as rape, fetishism, assaults and sexual predation which could have a great influence on subsequent behavior. This field has been researched on and consistent outcomes assert that frequent exposure of children to televised violence at an early age has been related to aggressive behavior in teenage and adulthood”. Consequently, many times I desire to emulate my favorite war hero after watching some action in TV, want to go on dates when I watch young people having casual sex or even try some drugs that are popularized in the movies such as alcohol.
TV programs could also overburden the neurological system and later could develop into attention problem since the environment in which a child is exposed to in early year affects the connections of neurons while bad content could affect their perception of the world. A child who get used to quick visual stimulation could exhibit difficulties in learning through listening, fail to be attentive to the teacher and has poor retention of information, which leads to bad grades in school. Sometimes I find myself thinking about the last episode I watched on my favorite show and figure out how the next one will be like, which destructs me from being attentive in class. On the same note, television destructs people from becoming productive such that they neglect their daily schedules. For instance, sometimes I fail to finish my school assignments and term papers in time just because am forced to watch the popular shows in order to have something to discuss with my friends.
In my opinion, the television is present in almost every household has replaced the time for physical activity of children at a tender age. The TV stars and presenters sometimes make children feel left out and try to imitate them. This could lower a child‘s self-esteem, drift their interest from study or become obsessed with beauty On the same note, I find some of girls in our schools dressing just like some popular TV stars and desires to be exactly like them. In some cases, this has been linked to superiority complex, gender role conceptualizations, which could affect their self-image. Therefore, it is the role of parents to regulate the amount of time their child spend on television as well as the content they are exposed to. This could be achieved by censoring objectionable programming using content descriptors and V-chip, notes Fischer (22).
The digital children of the twenty-first century have acquired misguided perceptions, identities, and behaviors through the influence of technology. The effect of TV programs and commercials should be critically assessed and broadcasting networks have a role to eliminate monitor their child‘s TV watching habits and avoid keeping a TV set in a child‘s bedroom. Different studies cited in this discussion ascertain that watching violent content has detrimental effects on children. Therefore, I support the statement that “In many ways, television has proved to be one of the worst inventions of modern times. All too often, television is harmful because of the shows it broadcasts and the way it is used in the home”.
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