Children today have more outlets to view television through cable, pay-per view, and home movies. Many homes often have more than one T.V unlike when our parents were growing up. Television shows are one of the contributing factors to behaviors in children. Recently, the Annenberg Public Policy Center has placed focus on this issue because the majority of children's behaviors are influenced by television. Three negative effects of television on children are poor school performance, increase in violent activities, and early ideas about sex.
Too much television watching can affect children's school performance. The average child in United States spends about 25 hours a week in television, according to the latest annual media in the home survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center. Only a handful of programs will teach children important skills such as math, reading, science or problem solving. Most of the shows on television, including cartoons and family shows are non- educational.
Children and Television: Lessons from Sesame Stree...
Family watching television, c. 1958
Springer giving a speech at Emory University in 20...Some examples of non-educational cartoons are Bugs Bunny, Peter Pan and Mickey Mouse. More time watching these shows can be linked to poorer school performance because more time spent in front of the television means less time spent on home work or having stimulating interactions with adults and children. Late night television watching also contributes to poorer school performance. It tires children out so much that they can't pay attention in school. Poor school performance affects children in the long term because some of them do not get good grades and it affects them when it is time to look for a job.
Television programming promotes negative behaviors. The most prevalent example of this is violence. Violence is physical force used to injure, damage or destroy. A huge number of television programs include violence e.g. Xena warrior princess and Hercules. Even shows designed...