Since its invention over fifty years ago, television has been criticized by many as being bad for children’s brains. As television has advanced throughout the years, so have the fast paced, mindless shows designed for young children. In the article “Is SpongeBob SquarePants Bad for Children?” Roni Rabin discusses a research study that sought to prove that watching SpongeBob SquarePants has a negative effect on a child’s executive functioning system. The results of this small experimental study found that children who watched nine minutes of a fast paced cartoon had decreased their executive functioning compared to children who participated in nine minutes of drawing or watching educational programs. Connecting fast paced television viewing to losses in cognitive ability has profound significance for children’s social and learning development.
He believed that television has an impact on children because of what’s in it. The medium he spoke of pulls people into the box of the new age focus and types of living, many times stirring our attention from something to nothing by involving more senses. To Mr. McLuhan, print only involved one sense, the visual. It only kept our attention in one way which was in small bits. “It enabled Western man to specialize and to mechanize, but it also led, he said, to ''alienation from their other senses.” This single handedly shows why our medium is evolving.
He then talks about laboratory studies on televised violence and finds research points to more aggressive behavior in children. But also comedy can also produce aggressiveness. Rhodes comes to the conclusion that despite violent video games, viewed mock violence on TV, parents are responsible for the behaviors of their children. “Violence is on the decline in America, but if we want to reduce it even further, protecting children from real violence in their lives—not the pale shadow of mock violence—is the place to begin” (327), This feeling is mutual for me. I feel that violence in the home makes a huge impact on our adult lives.
Parents should regulate the amount of video games their children play because if your child regularly plays games with plots based on violence and aggression, research shows children at risk for increased aggressive behavior, it inhibits social interaction, and it is not always intellectually stimulating. First, parents, not government, need to monitor video games. Laws don't go far enough to help parents, argues Craig Anderson, a professor at Iowa State University: "The results are really quite clear; regardless of gender... regardless of culture... we know that playing violent videogames increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior and aggressive thinking, decreases the likelihood of pro-social behavior, and increases what you might think of as desensitization... Probably the best solution is to educate parents... but we also need to give parents better tools and the current rating systems don't do that." "One study reveals that young men who are habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated exposure to violent games," said psychologists Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., and Karen E. Dill, Ph.D. "The other study reveals that even a brief exposure to violent video games can
Moreover, these programs allow kids to learn about different morals and values of different cultures. Despite the advantages, too much television can lead into further problem of the development of the child. Studies show that even an hour to two hour of daily unsupervised television viewing would cause a child
2004). Television advertisements access children earlier than the print media due to textural literacy not developing until after children have become regular watchers of television. Advertisers are concerned with the effectiveness of advertisements, with the intention of enhancing the purchase levels of their products, however, there are unintended effects that occur; materialistic attitudes and values, parent-child conflict, body image problems, unhealthy eating habits and the ability to encourage alcohol consumption. This essay
By limiting the amount of time children watch television it is less aggression they may be viewing. Also a parent needs to be more involved in what shows are appropriate for their children to watch (163). Secondly, in a Diane Swanbrow article a study done by Psychological Science reports that, “People who play violent video games and watch violent movies are numb to the pain and suffering of other” (165). There was an article by Jon Bardin a writer for, Los Angeles Times that states, “Kids who play games like “Manhunt” and “Grand Theft Auto” are more likely to drive recklessly, according to a new study published in the academic journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture. On the other note, well-known author Gerard Jones states, “I am going to argue that it’s (violent entertainment) helped hundreds of people for everyone its hurt, and that it can help far more if we learn to use it well” (184).
We have all heard parents, politicians and other authorial figures saying that television teaches children anti-social behaviour. However other people, especially producers and managers of television programs, claim that the pro-social effects of television are more significant than the antisocial effects. Television can trigger both pro-social and anti-social behaviour. From my point of view pro-social aspects of television outweigh the anti-social aspects. Let’s take the kids program that can be seen between 6 and 9 o'clock in the morning.
Hundreds of studies have found that children and teenagers that watch television may: • Become “immune” or numb to the horror of violence • Gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems • Imitate the violence they observe on television; and • Identify with certain characters, victims and/or victimizers Also, Extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater aggressiveness. In some cases, watching a single violent program can increase aggressiveness. So what are the Pros of Children Watching TV? • Because of its ability to create powerful touchstones, TV enables young people to share cultural experiences with others. • Shared viewing gives family members of all ages an opportunity to spend time together.
It is easy for me to see something on TV and know that it wouldn’t be right to replicate it. For a young child this may not be the case. Children tend to act out what they see on TV with their friends at school. As an adult I can choose what to and what not to watch based on how much violence I wasn’t to see or how much I can take. For children, the parents have to monitor what they watch and heed the TV rating systems to insure their children are not getting an unhealthy dose of violence.