While many believe that allowing children to watch television can have a negative effect, others argue that this can be an efficient method to educate young people. Despite acknowledging the rationale of the former, I believe that using television at an early age can be harmful to the long term intellectual development of children.
Granted, proponents may well argue that exposing children to technological devices like television may be beneficial for the children’s awareness about their surrounding environment. This is predicated on the assumption that verified news that is broadcasted on television on a daily basis such as weather forecasts can provide young people with useful information of the temperature in a particular area. This important knowledge can help them prepare proper clothes when they participate in outdoor activities. Without such helpful information, children may choose their outfits according to their preferences and they would be prone to weather-related health problems.
Nevertheless, there is a limited number of helpful television programs, and most channels contain non-educational content such as movies or shopping; thereby, I contend that allowing children to consume information from the television may do harm to their cognitive development. It goes without saying that young children, particularly teenagers, tend to mimic behaviours which are shown to them, especially from the adults. If they are exposed to the violence depicted in action-packed films, they may copy aggressive conducts from the movies’ characters and follow dangerous immoral actions, gradually turning into a spoiled child. Therefore, watching harmful contents on TV, which is likely to be more prominent than educational ones, may spell disaster for the long term intellectual development of children.
In conclusion, while watching TV may provide young individuals with useful information about the surrounding world, it is a mistake to assume that it can be beneficial to them in the long run as it has an adverse consequence on the formation of children’s personality.