Television’s Impact on Children
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Supervision Needed
Makhesa Lucy Borotho
A 43-year-old public relations officer at the Ministry of Public Service in Lesotho
Television is one of the most popular forms of media in most parts of the world. Like all other forms of media, it can positively or negatively affect the consumer. For this reason, media literacy is vitally important and needs to be taken into consideration. Since experience is a good teacher, most parents use their own experiences to select the most appropriate viewing for their children.
I think television can be either effective or ineffective. Effective in a way that there are children’s programs that are more educational, even better than books, because children believe in what they see. Children can learn such things as simple mathematics, English, sports and culture through cartoons for entertainment on TV. Most programs are rated suitable or unsuitable for children, and it is the responsibility of parents to make sure that children are only exposed to programs specifically produced for their consumption. On the other hand, TV can be destructive as it is difficult for some children to even eat without watching TV, and many children do not do their homework because they are thinking about what’s on TV. This simply means that television can be addictive. It steals time from activities that actually develop the child’s brain, like playing and interacting with other children, which is where learning and language acquisition takes place.
In addition, programs that contain strong language and violence can influence the behavior of children, as they can tend to be aggressive after viewing such shows. Young children learn through imitation. As a result, they like to imitate TV action stars unaware of the damaging effects. Young minds are not always able to distinguish between what is good and what is bad.
I strongly support TV viewing for children development, but with strict adult supervision.
I think television can be either effective or ineffective. Effective in a way that there are children’s programs that are more educational, even better than books, because children believe in what they see.
Less TV, More Reading
Liu Mian
A 34-year-old network engineer in Beijing
I agree that television is a way for children to be entertained and relax. But it is neither an effective way to nurture the minds of children nor useful in educational purposes on its own.
Today, most of the TV programs are jammed with reality shows and soap operas. Children can gain nothing from sitting in front of a TV for two or three hours per day. It’s just a waste of time. The only thing they probably can remember after watching a program is only the names of the stars. While some may argue that watching educational programs is beneficial for children, I think they can get the same knowledge from reading books.
Meanwhile, TV does not provide enough two-way interaction for children. It does not offer enough opportunity for a child to develop proper social skills, speech function or ability of critical thinking. Also, watching television for long hours can damage children’s eyes and contribute to obesity.
Looking at the current TV content, there is a host of advertising shown, some of it targeting young children. Children at a young age are easily attracted by advertisements. Since their set of core values are not yet established, they cannot always distinguish between right and wrong. Therefore, advertisements may lead to children’s misunderstanding and entrench wrong values.
For example, watching the advertisement of a milk brand, a child is surprised at the amazing effect it has on the boy, who grows rapidly and develops a strong body after drinking the product. Misled by the exaggerated effects, the child may start to drink a lot of milk and abandon other activities such as physical exercise or eating a balanced diet, which is definitely not healthy. Therefore, instead of watching TV to develop their minds, I would rather they read more books and take part in social activities.
TV does not provide enough two-way interaction for children. It does not offer enough opportunity for a child to develop proper social skills, speech function or ability of critical thinking.