Today, the media industry is
booming. The emergence of the Internet,
a popular media platform, allows people to consume from any location at any
time. This is especially true for the
television. What many fail to realize is
that form of media can be quite harmful.
Starting at infancy, children are immersed in the consumption of television
programs. Most do not accept that this
experience has the potential to impact children’s health by harming cognitive
development and social behavior.
According to the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics (AAP), mass media can lead to health risks for children. Just last year, it was reported that
children between the ages of 2 and 11 watch an average of 24 hours of TV each
week. Watching television has the
potential to expose children to many harmful topics including sex, violence,
and drugs.
Birth to age three is a critical time for brain development in which infants need positive exposure
Why is the exposure to these
topics so detrimental to a child? Baby’s brains are very sophisticated and
impressionable. By age 3, a child’s
brain is 90% of an adult size, so during the first 3 years the brain needs
plenty of stimulation. This is a critical period in process of child
development because what they learn during that time has the potential to stick
around for life. Babies sleep about 12
hours a day, so the alert time should be interactive and stimulating. Since the television displays harmful topics
and can be very time consuming, children from birth to age 3 should avoid
exposure.
Researches have found that television viewing is very common among infants and toddlers
Most children view
television before they even attend school.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 74% of infants and toddlers
watched television before the age of 2. This
statistic sheds light on the significance of children and television viewing
within the United States.
The Children’s Hospital in
Boston and Harvard Medical School conducted a study on children between birth
and age 3 and television. The
researchers suggest that there is no evidence, which says viewing this material
is beneficial. They reported, "contrary
to parents' perceptions that TV viewing is beneficial to their children's brain
development, we found no evidence of cognitive benefit from watching TV during
the first two years of life." They
then go on to say that these programs are only a waste of time. These findings then suggest that it is possible that
the material may be harmful simply because it is taking time out of meaningful
activities.
Dr. Brenda Jones Harden, a
professor in the Department of Human Development at the University of Maryland,
viewpoint supplements the statements of the previous studies.
She too states that there is
no evidence that clearly points out the effects that the television has on
infants, but what we can pay attention to is the way in which babies
learn. Infants do best when they have
adequate interaction with others, which can lead to proper development. The television is unable to provide infants
and toddlers with that stimulation.
Many consider the television to be great for
education and entertainment without considering the messages that the programs
send
The television as a time
consuming, meaningless activity for infants is not the only concern that
researches have; another concern is the content. Over the years, violence and television has
become a public health issue. The
National Center for Children Exposed to Violence estimate that by 18 years old,
children will have viewed 200,000 violence acts on television. Many of the programs portray violence as
something that is fun and effective. These
programs pose a threat to children’s health because they allow kids to learn
aggressive behavior, they desensitize children to acts of violence, and they
increase fear.
New research suggests that
the exposure to television during childhood can lead to anti-social behavior in
adulthood. The researchers found significant statistical information which
suggests that the more young viewers watch, the higher the risk of having a
criminal conviction because of an increase in aggressive personality traits and
an increase in the possibility of having negative emotions. They conclude by noting both the content and
the time spent watching programs lead to emotional discrepancies.
Professor Jones Harden also
states that various studies have inferred that the exposure to certain programs can harm older children.
Despite the many studies that urge parents to cut the television viewing, this topic remains controversial
People
remain divided when it comes to the issue of screen media and young
children. Various programs claim to be
beneficial to the child, leading parents to believe that these shows will
entertain and educate their children. If parents do insist on incorporating the
television into the lives of their children, experts say the best outcome occurs
when they watch shows with them. What
can be inferred is that spending time with various forms of media can get in
the way of playing, exploring and interacting.
Those things put a child on the right path so healthy social and
physical development.
As
suggested by Jones Harden, it is best to introduce healthy television programs later in a
child’s life, or if the infant environment is lacking in stimulating and
nurturing experiences.
