The Effects Of Media And Screen Time Children On Children

For many years toddlers and young children has learned and proceesed a very good amount of knowledge from educational video games and television programs. It can also prepare them for preschool and elementry school.

Television can affect learning and school performance if it exceeds the time kids need for their crucial for healthy physical and mental development. Most of children's free time, especially during the early development years, should be spent in activities such as playing, reading, exploring nature, learning about music or participating in sports. Research has shown that children's exposure to television during the preschool years is predictive of academic outcomes during adolescence. The most notable lesson about this

According to a 2010 Kaiser Foundation study, which involved elementary children, concluded that on average 75 percent of parents allowed their children to have bedroom TV’s, North American households keep their TV’s on for 50 percent of the day, and use 7.5 hours of technology entertainment per day (Rowan). Technology is becoming a problem throughout the United States, especially in elementary aged kids. Parents are introducing technology as early as infants so that they understand certain information at an early age. When parents introduce technology at such an early age they are giving their children the advantage to be addicted to the wonders of it. Young children are at a high risk of brain damage with the advancement of technology. The more adults introduce technology to younger children the higher the chances of problems it causes. Technology has a negative effect on younger children and should have limitations on the age in which it is being introduced.

Most children today have access to devices such as television, smartphones, computers, and tablets. These devices can be used in a variety of ways, with both positive and negative outcomes. For example, preschool aged children may use a device to learn letters, numbers, or colors. School aged children may use a computer to conduct research, or watch an educational show. A child may also sit in front of the television for many hours, reducing physical activity, and become obese. I believe it is important for the parent or caregiver of the child to monitor the amount of screen time, as well as the content to optimize the benefits these devices can offer.

The early development stages between the ages of two and four are paramount for a child’s cognitive growth. Children are extremely sensitive to their surroundings and pick up everything that’s going on around them and that’s what helps them learn and develop. In a study, it showed that for every hour of television watched the child’s age appropriate language skills decreased. As for children exposed to constant background noises this also decreased their cognitive and language skills as well. This early and over exposure to TV, video games, and computers, deprives the child from sensory, hearing, and touching skills that they would have learned in the real world without so much exposure. This is also the time of developing co-ordination skills, as well social and motor skills. These skills are valuable in long-term and short-term physical and mental health (Negative Effects of Media). Tv is used as a baby sitter now to keep kids busy while parents do work around the house, this is a destructive act being done. Tv is generally always on in households, leaving kids to be able to watch whatever is on tv rather than educational shows that parents should be providing. The social intelligences

Technology throughout the past 30-40 years has become more advanced and accessible than ever. The television specifically has developed extremely since its beginning. What started off as a single camera caption, has developed into a full fledge worldwide availability. Within the United States, the TV is a normal everyday object common in households, hotels, schools, and even restaurants. There are approximately 118.4 million household in the United States that own a television set ( The Number of TV Households in the United States from season 2000-2001 to season 2016-2017 (in millions)).However, the increased amount of time spent watching TV has had a tremendous impact on people, especially kids. The differences in generations throughout the development of the TV has led to many questions, all revolving around whether or not the televisions has had a good or negative impact pertaining to children. Time spent watching television affects the brain, ability to learn, and skill levels in different areas (source. In the book “Last Child in The Woods,” Richard Louv discusses how children in the 1940’s would watch out the window at the scenery and have conversations, while children now sit and watch a movie on a flip-down video screen without knowledge to the outside world (Louv 16-17).

Statistics show that screen time negatively affects children’s learning abilities and development. “The effects of so much screen time can include speech delays, aggressive behavior and obesity.” (Lavey) Since parents play a role in how much television their kids can watch, they can minimize the chances of their brains not developing correctly. “The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development.” (Kids Health) Children do

eople would argue against limiting screen time for younger children. However some arguments can be made for letting children watch television when they are very young. A poor mouse lost its youth for the effects of overstimulation to be proven, and such a valiant sacrifice should not go in vain. Along with the sacrifice of the mice that served under Dr. Christakis, our future citizens are having their perceptions of reality augmented even before they go to preschool or kindergarten. Combined with the attention deficit, these preconceived notions of different places can lead a school to have some serious issues. The core issue with this is that it is very difficult to moderate a child 's viewing of the television, playing of video games, or accessing of the Internet, especially because younger people have more fluid of electronic devices. The benefits of caring for a child during its infancy, instead of sticking it in front of a screen, outweigh whatever free time would be obtained by letting the child experience over stimulation.

This previous research, such as that of Dr. Arc Sigman as well as Jerome and Dorothy Singer, is conclusive that parents and educators must be careful with children and their time spent in front of screens. Dr. Sigman studies the issue from a biological standpoint, discussing the mental and physical effects of technology on children (Sigman, 2012).

This paper explores the research findings on how screen time can effect children and their personalities and cognitive development. I have found four credible articles on these subjects from online sources and scholarly publications. These articles discuss the results of different studies about children’s exposure to television and online content and how they have negative effects on the developing child’s brain in terms of cognitive development and personality traits.

Children from two years old to the age of ten years old can be effected in a negative way. Sometimes parents give their children a tablet or their cell phone to entertain them while they try and get something important done. Sometimes they are out in public and their child is being too loud so they pull out the phone and let them watch T.V. on it so they can become quiet. The American Academy of Pediatrics explains, “Screens are distractions, not tools to soothe children. Television is not a “babysitter,” so parents should enforce rules about media use” (Roman). From the start of a child 's life parents should be careful about letting kids have the ability to watch too much tv or spend too much time staring at any type of technology. Parents tend to use their technology to keep

Unlike previous generations who were “introduced” to the internet, television and social media, the present generation is “born” in it. By this statement, it is implied that children today are much closer to technology and media than adults are, and so, are more likely to be affected by it. Perhaps, the highest impact on the physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development of children and adolescents is by media due to its ready availability through Smart phones, tablet PCs and other portable devices. This paper attempts to evaluate some of the influences of media on various aspects of child and adolescent development.

This view is supported by Webster-Stratton who described television as “rendering children passive” and referred to research indicating that excessive exposure to television and computers “place children at risk for harmful effects on their physical, social and psychological development”. As a way of mitigating this, she suggests watching television or computer games with the child in order to address any issues that might arise or to identify inappropriate content (2006, p234-236).

In today’s society, there are a number of factors that affect a child’s ability to learn. The media, for good and for bad, is the primary teacher of American youth. This environment reflects life itself, sometimes in a corrupt way, including the positive and heinous parts, along with the beautiful and hideous parts, as well as the charitable and violent parts. It is almost impossible to protect American youth from experiences reflecting the adult world when the media invades homes and becomes so much a part of everyday living. “American teenagers spend 31 hours a week watching television, 10 hours a week online, 4 hours a week reading magazines, and 17 hours a week listening to music” (Miss). Even though mass media is a huge part of a

The media in today’s society is very influential on children. Many children learn violent behavior and they become aggressive children because they are exposed to so much mature content. Many television shows contain a lot of violence, for example kids fighting each other, kids bullying other kids and kids yelling and disrespecting their parents.