Television Is Bad for Children

It has been suggested that watching television may do more harm than good to a child's developmental skills. But a new study says that it all depends on what children watch — some educational programs on TV can actually enhance children's intellectual development. Until now, television viewing has been blamed consistently for having a negative effect on children's developmental skills. But the authors of a new study, which was published in the September/October issue of Child Development, argue that not all television programs are created equal. All TV is not alike,† says co-author Aletha Huston, PhD, professor of child development at the University of Texas at Austin. â€Å"Educational television can have a very positive impact on young children. † For the study, researchers recruited more than 200 children in the Kansas City area who were from low- to moderate-income families. About 40% of the children were African-Americans, and the rest were Hispanic and Cauca sian Americans. During the 3-year study, which followed children from ages 2 to 4 years, researchers tested the children and visited their homes every year.The tests included reading, vocabulary, math, and school readiness. â€Å"Children who watched educational programming — particularly at age 2 and 3 — performed better on tests of school-related skills than children who did not watch educational television,† says Huston. â€Å"Watching a lot of general audience programming was related to poor skills. † After controlling for the family environment, which included parents' education and family income, researchers found that watching educational programs on television may indeed translate to better skills.Daniel Anderson, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, says that the findings highlight the importance of the type of content that is viewed. â€Å"What children watch on television is the key,† says Anderson. â€Å"When the television programs are designed to teach, children learn good things. If they are not designed to teach, and especially if they include violence, children learn things that end up being bad for their behavior. Anderson points out that for children from low- to moderate-income families, such educational programming is filling in parts of their childhood experience that they might not otherwise get. â€Å"These children very often don't have other educational resources available in their homes, such as age-appropriate books, and parents often don't understand the importance of reading to their children and encouraging their children to read,† says Anderson. Researchers say that it is heartening to see that educational programming has become a regular, if small, part of broadcast offerings.Children can learn cognitive and social skills from such programs if parents supervise what they watch. â€Å"Television is a powerful tool to teach things good or bad,† says John Murray, PhD, professor in the school of family studies and human services at Kansas State University. null But he cautions that too much television for school-aged children may have the opposite effect. â€Å"The rule of thumb is two hours per day,† says Murray. â€Å"Watching too much television takes away time children spend on exercise and other school-related activities. A related study, released this week in the September issue of Ambulatory Pediatrics, found that easy access to television, such as having a TV in a child's room, leads to more time spent in front of the tube. The study author, Jean Wiecha, PhD, says her study backs up that 2-hour rule. â€Å"Parents should limit the time children spend watching television,† says Wiecha, deputy director of the prevention research center on nutrition and physical activity at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. â€Å"More than 2 hours of viewing time may have health consequences for children, such as obesity. Technology runs in the veins of society. It is the fuel that drives our lives. It is an integral part of daily life. It has definitely benefited society. It has brought luxury in the life of every common man. Automation brought about by technology has saved human effort and time to a large extent. It has brought distant places closer and simplified information access. It has made the world a smaller place to live in. Let us look at some of the important areas, where technology has brought a positive change.Automation of Processes in the Industry and the Household: Technology has automated many of the critical processes in the industry as well as the household. Imagine the amount of labor that must have been involved in industrial processes when the concept of automation did not exist. Electronic gadgets have entered homes of the common man to rescue him from the boredom of daily chores. Imagine the amount of time people must be spending doing household chores durin g the time there were no machines and household appliances. It's better not imagined.Today's is the age of robotics. Machines can learn, adopt new things and perform tasks with near-human efficiency. Changed Modes of Transport: The automobile industry and technology are interwoven. Time has witnessed this industry evolve from mechanical scooters to automated aircraft. Animals were the only modes of transport in the olden days. Technology was the driving force behind the creation and design of the modern-day automobiles. Bicycles evolved into scooters and sports bikes. The idea of having four-wheeled modes of transport gave rise to the creation of cars.Modes of air and water transport came up, thanks to technology. Reduced Risk to Human Life: Machines have automated many crucial industrial processes. Machines are now taking up mundane jobs that were once done by human workers. Technology has evolved to an extent where machines can perform tasks that are not feasible for man, either b ecause they are risky or life-threatening or because they are beyond human capacity. The use of advanced technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence has proven to be helpful in life-risking endeavors like mining and space exploration.Data Management and Information Retrieval: Computer technology, needless to say, has changed the face of the world. Computers can store, organize and manage huge amounts of data. They can process large amounts of information. Computers have given rise to the software industry, one of the most progressive industries of the world. The Internet that seeded from computer networking concepts is the most effective communication platform and the largest information base existing today. Impact on the Entertainment and Advertising Industries: The Internet has brought a positive change to the entertainment and advertising industries.Over the Internet, advertisements can reach the masses within seconds. Internet advertisements have changed equations of the advertising industry. Branding on the Internet is much more effective that other forms of product promotion. The entertainment media has progressed because of advancements in technology. Movies, songs, games are a few clicks away. People have begun using the Internet to watch and download movies, listen to music, play games and entertain themselves. Thanks to handy, mobile and user-friendly devices, all this has become really easy.Onset of the Digital Age: There's hardly anything analog now, we live in a digital world, a digital age. Talk pixels and bytes. The digitization of information has made it possible for us to store it in a compact form. Ever wondered how gigabytes of data can be stored on a small chip? Digitization it is! Also, digitization enriches the quality of data storage. Digital voice and digital images are of a higher quality. Digital cameras and digital TVs provide users with an enriched picture quality, thus bettering user experience with technology.Communicat ion Redefined: Cellular communication has revolutionized the communication industry. The conventional telephone, also a piece of technology, was one of the earliest technological developments in communication. Mobile phones have broadened the horizons of communication by enabling convenient long-distance calling and mobile use. Letters have taken a backseat and emails and cell phone messages have become the easiest means to connect. Owing to developments in technology, communication is wireless.Social networking is another defining factor here. It has given an all new dimension to communication, entertainment and recreation. Satellite Technology: Satellite communication is an important facet of technology. Satellite TV and satellite radio have eased the broadcasting of events across the globe. How else do you think could matches and concerts be broadcasted live? Not just TV and radio, even communication to ships and airplanes wouldn't have been possible if not for satellite communic ation.Even your hand-held devices wouldn't be of use, if not for radio communication. These were still a few fields influenced by technology. It is almost impossible to enlist all the positive effects of technology on society. The fast-advancing technology on the whole, has given impetus to developments in various fields and improved the quality of human life. There's less risk, less effort, less mess. There's more leisure, more ease and more speed – all because of that ten-letter word – not a word, a phenomenon – technology.