Positive effects of television on young children.

Essay by tattvaUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, June 2005

download word file, 9 pages 4.3 1 reviews

Downloaded 147 times

Television is constantly being criticised as being bad for children. One of the first arguments to come up is the effect that violent TV has on children. It is a valid argument as most of the time TV violence begs for imitation because violence is demonstrated and promoted as a fun and effective way to get what you want. Many violent acts are perpetrated by the "good guys," whom children have been taught to emulate. Adding to the lure of imitation is TV's freedom from restraint. Children are taught by their parents that it's not right to hit, but television says it's OK to bite, hit, or kick if you're the good guy. And even the "bad guys" on TV are rarely held responsible or punished for their actions.

The images children absorb also can leave them traumatized and vulnerable. According to research, children ages 2 to 7 are particularly frightened by fantastic, scary-looking things like grotesque monsters.

Simply telling children that those images aren't real won't console them because they can't yet distinguish between fantasy and reality.

Another problem with television is that it turns our children into potatoes. According to the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP), there is a link between excessive TV watching and obesity - a significant health problem today. Children are inactive and tend to snack while watching TV, and they are bombarded with advertising messages that encourage them to eat unhealthy foods, such as potato chips and cookies, that often become preferred snack foods.

There are, of course, several other arguments against television - that it reinforces gender roles as well as racial stereotypes and so forth. A lot of the time, however, the positive effects that television has on children are overlooked. In this essay I shall flipping the proverbial coin and...