How Does Television Affect Your Kids?
On TV children are exposed to drugs, sex and violence. Children almost seem hypnotized by the television. If you really think about it a child that sits for long hours in front of the TV on a daily basis, can become uncommunicative. It can also affect a child’s physical health, and make learning more difficult. Studies have shown that when TV is cut out or cut down many children experience less fatigue and have better attention spans. Some children even can experience a loss of appetite, headache, vomiting and irritability It can also affect their eyes, by not giving their eyes the proper exercise that they need. It also takes time away from reading, building things, talking to other people. They have a difficult time coming up with ideas or creative activities. It is very difficult for them to think anything through. They get used to things being laid out in front of them like on TV. Many teachers say that children today seem to have less imagination then they used to. Children need to communicate constantly so that they can have their questions answered, their wrong ides corrected and the right view encouraged. TV has a destructive effect on their viewpoints.
What about violence, and drugs? These are the same things that you try to warn your children about when they go to school. Evidence has shown that many children who watch too much TV violence tend to be more violent in their everyday behavior. Or are even more tolerant of violence that is inflected by others. Some parents notice that after their child has watched too much TV violence they are unable to control themselves. They constantly whine, and fuss, and seem to regress with almost everything. Even their vocabulary seems to become more violent. Many children often act out what they see on television, by sometimes even pretending to shoot their parents. Many police records indicate that young people who imitate television crimes are far more numerous than many people think. Even a number of sexual assaults carried out by teen-age boys were almost identical to a network television show.
The bottom line is that we have no real control over what is shown on TV, but we can control the types of programs that our children watch. You should not just assume that because it is a cartoon that it is alright for your children to watch. Make sure you thoroughly screen any new cartoon or television program that your children are going to watch. What I usually do is anything that my children watch, I also watch. You want to avoid using the TV as a babysitter for your children. Instead think of it as something you can do as a family. May people suggest that the TV be left off until a certain time of the day when the whole family will sit down together? This will allow for conversation between you and your child. It may seem like a lot of work and take a little more of your time, but believe me your children are worth the extra effort.
