Blogpost # 1: Children and Watching TV

I know most of the time, children today would rather grab their gadgets and play all day or surf the net rather than to watch the television. But of course there are still children who watch the television while holding on to their gadgets, right? 

The time they use for watching television takes away from important activities such as: reading, school work, playing, exercise, family interaction, and social development. Children also learn information from television that may be inappropriate or incorrect. They often cannot tell the difference between the fantasy presented on television versus reality. They are influenced by the thousands of commercials seen each year, many of which are for alcohol, junk food, fast foods, and toys

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in some of the countries in the world. In the article I read entitled, "Journal Issue: Children and Electronic Media" by Craig A. Anderson in the website: futureofchildren.org, he states that "A variety of research studies have found significant associations between obesity and TV viewing." Studies have shown that, for many reasons, risk of overweight increases as time watching television increases. Children are inactive while watching TV. Advertisements encourage consumption of high-calorie snacks and beverages. Many kids munch while they watch TV. Some researchers have found that metabolic rates of those viewing television are the same or lower than when sleeping.

Just because a food product is advertised on television or in other media does not necessarily mean it is a healthy choice. And just because a person is promoting a food doesn't necessarily mean that they eat it themselves either. Consult your health professional, a Registered Dietitian, or Food, Nutrition, and Health Extension Agent for information on eating healthfully and being active -- two important keys to preventing childhood obesity.
  

I have also read in an article entitled, "Some types of TV might improve behavior in kids"
by Leslie Wade in schoolsofthoughts.com that they conducted an experimental study wherein they recruited about 600 families and assigned to one of the groups. Parents in the first group were encouraged to substitute violent shows with educational and pro-social ones – shows that stressed compassion and cooperation. The families were given TV guides listing educational programming for their area monthly. Examples of shows that were given are: "Dora the Explorer," "Super WHY," "Seasame Street" and " It's a Big, Big World." Parents were also encouraged to watch together with their kids. 

The children watched from half an hour of violent programming a day to 23 minutes. Then parents increased educational viewing from about to thirty to forty three minutes a day. While families in the second group did not change their viewing habits.

They said that after a year, the researchers found out that the children who were watching less violent and a more child-appropriate shows scored better on their exams that involves measured cooperation, willingness to share to share or compromise compared to those who didn't. And they also had fewer incidents of aggressive behavior like yelling and hitting people.

According to their research study, I am able to say that better shows, better kids. When children watch shows with positive and good message they imitate it and put it into practice. But sad to say some of the TV shows today are nonsense and violent, although there are still shows that has a good message in it. We all know that kids most probably would mimic the thing that they see because they think it's normal because everyone's doing it. So if a child learns a violent action, it's very hard to unlearn it that's why we should be careful and consider what your child, your brothers or sisters, or your cousins watch on TV.