The good side of television
- Television watching can be entertaining and educational.
- It can motivate and inspire children to try new activities and engage in "unplugged" learning.
- Children can develop the ability to build analytical skills by discussing media.
- Television watching can be used to teach children the truth about advertising, thereby developing their thinking skills.
- Good role models and examples on the television can positively influence a child’s behaviour.
- Television programmes with a pro-social message can have a positive effect on a child’s behaviour.
- Children can learn things from watching television that parents do not want them to learn.
- Watching too much television can affect a child’s health, sleep, body weight, grades, behaviour and family life in negative ways.
- Television watching takes time away from healthy activities like playing outside with friends, eating dinner together as a family, reading, participating in sports, music, art or other activities that require practice to become skillful.
Here are some crucial research findings to keep in mind as you determine what part you want television to play in your family’s lives:
- Television watching is probably replacing activities in your child’s life that you would rather have them do (such as being physically active, reading, playing imaginatively, doing homework, doing chores).
- Children who spend more time watching television (both with and without parents and siblings present), spend less time interacting with family members.
- Excessive television watching can contribute to poor grades, sleep problems, behaviour problems, obesity and risky behaviours.
- Most children’s programming does not teach what parents say they want their children to learn. Many programmes are filled with stereotypes, violent solutions to problems and malicious behaviour. Children see, on average, about 2,000 beer and wine advertisements on television each year.
- Children see their favourite characters smoking, drinking and involved in sexual situations and other risky behaviours in the shows and movies they watch on television.
- Television watching can discourage and replace reading.
- Television watching can contribute to aggressive behaviour, desensitisation to violence, nightmares, less empathy and fear of being harmed. An American child will see 200 000 violent acts and 16 000 murders on television by age 18.
- The American Academy of Paediatrics takes a "better-safe-than-sorry" stance on television for young children. Paediatricians strongly oppose targeted programming, especially when it is used to market toys, games and unhealthy food to children. Any positive effect of television watching is still open to question, but the benefits of parent-child interactions are proven. Under the age of two years, talking, singing, reading, listening to music or playing are far more important to a child's development than any television programme.
What parents can do:
- Teach your child to be media savvy.
- Watch television with your child, so if the programming turns violent, you can discuss what happened to put it in a context you want your child to learn.
- Know what your child is watching, decide what programmes are appropriate for their age and personality and stick to your rules.
- To minimise peer pressure to watch violent shows, talk to the parents of your child's friends and agree to similar rules.
Know the statistics about television watching:
- Television watching among children is at an eight-year high.
- Children between 2 and 5 years spend 32 hours a week in front of a television.
- Children between 6 and 11 years spend about 28 hours a week in front of the television.
- 71% of 8- to 18-year-olds have a television in their bedroom; 54% have a DVD player and 37% have satellite television.
- Kids with a television in their bedroom spend an average of almost 1.5 hours more per day watching television than kids without a television in the bedroom.
- In about two-thirds of households, the television is typically on during meal-time.
- In 51% of households, the television is on most of the time.
- In 53% of households of 7th- to 12th-graders, there are no rules about television watching.
This shows that if your child is typical, television is playing a very big role in their life.
Read more about how your child's birthday can affect their academic performance.
