By Jennifer Riedel
Negative content in the media and its effects on children is growing; two of the biggest concerns for parents include effects on the physical and mental health of their children. The media today seems almost inescapable; advertisements bombard people every single day from every direction. There is one device that can be avoided, the television. This is not the choice for most Americans.
A study found in the Sourcebook for Teaching Science done by Norman Herr, Professor of Science and Computer Education at California State University, states that the “Number of hours per day that television is on in an average U.S. home is 6 hours and 47 minutes, the percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner is 66, and the number of hours of television watched annually by Americans is 250 billion.” While media can be entertaining it also has the ability to get into the mind, shaping thoughts and sometimes even behaviors according to many studies.
The number of concerned parents continues to rise with the increase of violence, sex, and immorality in movies and video games. On their web site, The National Association for the Education of Young Children found that, “Up until age seven or eight, children have great difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality, and their ability to comprehend nuances of behavior, motivation, or moral complexity is limited.” These are disturbing facts that have many mothers monitoring what their children see and hear. Some mothers have developed reward systems and supervised viewing while others have simply removed the television from the home completely if it became a problem. Both teachers and parents are faced with the challenging responsibility of assisting children to become thriving young adults.
Part of this difficult task would include helping them resolve conflicts among peers in a peaceful manner; aid them to become critical of what the see and hear in the media, and to encourage positive use of the media to develop good social values. Violent media has a tremendous impact on the development of children. The quality of children’s television has decreased, requiring parents to be more aware of what children watch. The NAEYC document, Media Violence in Children’s Lives, informs parents of the severity to be more vigilant in what their children watch, “It has been estimated that only 10% of children’s viewing time is spent watching children’s television; the other 90% is spent watching programs designed for adults.” When used responsibly, television can also be a great tool for teaching children.
The same article makes it clear that when used constructively, television can in fact be positive and helpful for learning. “Contrary to popular belief, television viewing is not a passive activity; children are mentally active during television viewing.” While the busy lives of most parents today make monitoring what their children view on the media a difficult job, it cannot be taken lightly. A child’s understanding of images they see differ from that of adults, therefore experts recommend that parents take the time to sit down with their children and discuss the movie to television show together.
Dr Patricia McVeagh wrote an article in the Apr/May2006 issue of Australian Parents stating that, “The television-watching habits a child acquires as a pre-schooler are likely to stay with them for life, which means there is an opportunity to impart healthy lifestyle choices.” This suggests that good parenting along with guidance is crucial to developing children into positive, effective adults. Researchers also predict that shows containing violence and adult humor will create more aggressive teens, both male and female. Still other researchers have found that four year olds exposed to unsupervised television are at a higher risk of becoming bullies by the time they are 6-9 years old.
Obesity is another alarming effect of watching too much television. The number of obese teens and children continues to grow due to changes in their daily activities. One of these activities includes relaxing in front of the television for long periods during the day. Sitting in front of the television decreases the amount of energy the body uses, takes the place of physical activities, and the bombardment of food advertisements increases the desire to eat snacks a foods with high sugar content.
Dr Patricia McVeagh also wrote in the same article warning parents that, “A study of Sydney television showed that confectionery and fast food were the most common categories of commercials in children's viewing hours.”
One study showed that the nutritional knowledge and reasoning of early-primary-school children decreased with the amount of television they watched. Teachers are worry about the effects TV has on students and their academic performance. Information shows that some children are even spending more time watching television than they are studying or playing outside.
Television has essentially become part of the American culture. In order to ensure that future generations will value the same moral standards that keep our society organized, according to studies, monitoring the habit of today’s youth is the key. While research hasn’t found all television programs to have negative impacts on children, they have made it clear that it is not necessarily how much television is being watched, but rather what the show contains.
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