It is an increasing concern that children nowadays are watching TV excessively when compared to the past. Watching television constantly has many risks regarding children’s health and behaviour. Consequently, this has raised a valid concern of whether young children should be allowed to watch television. This essay will discuss the negative effects and answer this concen.
There are numerous negative effects of children watching television. The most important one is that it leads to an unhealthy lifestyle, which result from not engaging in activeties and siting for extended periods of time. Systematic studies have shown that there is an increase of obesity rate in children around the world, which was attributed to having a sedenary lifestyle. Furtheremore, another harmful effect is the content of the shows that children are watching. Children are easily affected by what they consume through media, especially in these developmenal years. As a result, this will lead to behavioral changes including violence tendencies and social anxiety.
The important question is should watching television be allowed for young children? There is no simple answer to this question due to different learning styles among children. However, parents must have parental control over what their children are consuming. Moreover, allocating a specific amount of screen time is essential. Parents are supposed to have authority over their children, and they must ensure their children’s physical and mental health wellbeing. There are many ways to ensure that children are not watching unappropriate content. For example, TV offer parental control features that allow them to set a password for adult content channels, and even locking the screen on a certain children’s channel. In addition, smart TV streaming apps are offering app fronts that are completely designed for children where they can limit the age access, offering different educational shows and entertainment.
In conclusion, there are many adverse effects of extended TV time for children, including unhealthy lifestyle and behavioral problems. Screen time must be limited and content should supervised by parents.