The benefits of media and technology are numerous for children as they make learning a fun and engaging experience for them. However, to maintain a healthy balance, it’s crucial for parents to think about both the good and bad effects of television on child development.
While television is an inseparable part of everyone’s lives, including children, parents must pay special attention to how much screen time children should be allowed and what kind of shows are appropriate for their age. Read on as we discuss both the pros and cons of watching television for kids and what parents can do to strike a healthy balance between the two.
Positive Effects Of Television On Kids
Watching TV is not bad, and when exposed to the right programs and shows, your child can learn useful things. In fact, research indicates that watching TV can have a positive impact on children. It can help change their behaviour and attitude for the better. Check out some more ways TV can have a positive effect on your child.
It Exposes Them To Educational Content
A few TV channels are solely dedicated to creating informative and educational content for their audience, especially children. For instance, Sesame Street is one such show created for preschoolers. Additionally, there are a few channels that broadcast only educational content covering subjects like science, art and craft, math, and history. TV is also a great medium that exposes your child to different languages across the world.
It Introduces Them To Different Kinds Of Sports
Encourage your children to watch different kinds of sports like soccer, baseball, basketball, and tennis, by co-viewing with them. Tell them about the rules, gameplay, and other interesting facts about the sport. If they show interest in any, encourage them to play the game or sport.
It Exposes Them To Different Cultures
Watching TV can help your child learn about different countries and cultures around the world. With the right choice of channels and programs, your child might learn about the world, their lifestyles, traditions, and cultural values.
TV Might Inspire Them
TV shows aimed at adolescents and young children are not only educational but also inspiring. They encourage your children to try new things. For instance, a TV show about creative fun can inspire your child to try something new with paints, clay, or paper. Similarly, a documentary about famous artists, scientists, and other public figures can inspire them to do good deeds and achieve great things in life.
Negative Effects Of Television On Kids
TV affects kids negatively as well, and unfortunately, its adverse effects seem to outnumber the positive ones. Here are some ways TV can be a bad influence on your child.
It Curbs Physical Activity
Addiction to TV might reduce the amount of physical activity in kids. Sometimes they may refuse to do anything else but watch TV all day. Lack of physical activity and too much screen time can cause severe health problems in your child, such as vision loss and obesity.
It Impacts Their Social Development
If your kid spends their entire day watching TV, they won’t have time to play outdoors or socialise with peers. Less or no interaction with the other members of their social circle can affect their social development adversely and hinder their knowledge and understanding of social behaviour and interactions.
It Affects Their Brain Development
TV shows may be informative, but excessive watching can affect your child’s brain development and behaviour. Prolonged TV viewing might lower your child’s cognitive abilities like math skills, early reading, and language development. Additionally, a study conducted by John Hopkins University states that watching TV for more than two hours a day can have behavioural problems.
It May Give Them A Distorted View Of The World
Watching too much TV can lead to the “mean world syndrome” in young children and teenagers. Some movies and TV shows may exaggerate reality and create violent scenes, which may be terrifying for kids. Additionally, the use of violence and guns on shows may give kids the world is an unsafe and cruel place for them.
It Promotes Consumerism
Another bane of TV is consumerism. The number of ads your child sees on TV exposes them to a variety of products and brands that they may not need. For instance, commercials might encourage your kids to consume unhealthy foods and beverages. As a result, parents may become victims of consumerism, as their kids insist on buying something they watched on TV.
What Can Parents Do?
Parents have to take an affirmative stand when it comes to watching TV. If you want to p[rotect your kids from the damaging effects of television, here’s what you can do.
- Choose the right TV show: Figure out which shows are appropriate for your children. Do some research and understand the content and message that the show sends out to its audience.
- Set TV time rules for school days: Block out specific time slots for your children to watch television on weekdays and encourage them to stick with it. This will prevent them from watching too much TV on any given day.
- Do not let them watch ads: Kids are innocent and commercials are manipulative, as their primary goal is to sell products by impressing their audience.
- No TV during mealtime: Do not allow your children to watch TV while they are eating. Ensure you have meals together, at the dinner table, without any TV in the background.
- Make watching TV a family activity: Try to make TV viewing a fun family activity, instead of a means to pass time. This will discourage your children from watching TV just because they are bored or alone at home.
While TV is a crucial part of your child’s life, you must learn to control the influence of this device on them. Keep yourself informed about the good and bad effects of television on child development and set up a TV-watching schedule so that your child gets a balanced screen time and cannot complain about not being able to watch enough TV.
Also read:
Tips to make parenting journey easy: These effective tips help you raise confident children and make our parenting journey smoother.
Role of parents in child development: Curious to know how your role as a parent affects your child’s development? Tap this post to know.
Best parenting books: No matter what your concern is, these parenting books will help you solve them all. Take a look.
Feature Image: Pexels.com