Is Television bad for children?
Television has been a common item around the household for the last few generations. By assuming that television is bad for children we are also assuming that this item has also had a negative effect on ourselves when we were children. The problem has never been the fact that children watched too much of it. The new problem we face today is the content that is shown on the box. Gone are the days when a parent can switch on the tv for their kids and be comforted that what they see will not cause too much influence on their behaviour.
Nowadays, when they turn it on, there are endless examples of bad behaviour shown on tv which simply cannot be classified as family friendly. Reality shows, soap operas, current affairs and even the news can have a negative impact on your children’s behaviour. However, can it be that bad that ignorance can become a solution? No. This is because even with the television switched off, your kids will still become influenced by their friends at school, or by other media such as radio or internet.
The solution is to not restrict what they watch to such an extent that it will cause them to want to watch it more. Remember, the more you take away something, the more they will want it. Unless it is strictly enforced from a young age, until they get to an acceptable age where they can watch it, by forcing them at a later age will most likely cause more problems for the parent. It is far more important to educate your children so they have a good understanding of what they are watching. This is especially true for reality television. Many actions performed by contentants must be explained to them to show them that this is simply television and made for the screen. Although it is labelled as reality, most of the occurrences are simply not realistic, and the behaviours are over exaggerated.
Television can be a good educational tool. Gone are the days of Sesame Street, which would teach your children how to count, dance and spell. These days kids have a much faster rate of learning, and are almost expected to learn at this incredible rate, just to keep up with their peers. We constantly hear about kids in kindergarten who are already having tuition. Television can be used to form that part of the education process. Books and tuition itself cannot be used to completely fill this void. This is because the television will display random shows and topics that otherwise may not have been brought up by the parent or the teacher. Many social interaction and social science topics fall under this category.
For a complete education of your child, television should play an important part. They must be aware of modern developments and current affairs, who other children are living, and most importantly tv must act as a reference and point of entry for their parents to step in and explain all the questions they will inevitably have after watching the shows.
