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The effects of television on the younger generation.

If you want to know how TV affects your child, this essay must be read by all parents. The pros and cons of children watching television are many. Some of them are mentioned below, for you to read. Know, what you should avoid and what can actually help!

With television being the most popular way to advertise to young ones, the average American child may view as many as 40,000 television commercials every year Advertising is everywhere you look, whether it is in the newspaper you pick up daily or on that billboard you see while driving down the highway. Some people may say that they are not in fact influenced by the advertising that is thrown at them each day, and that they do not fall into it, but everyone does. Many children are often the target for most advertisers, because they know if they hound at their parents enough they will give in and buy their product, and everyone will be happy. Some advertisers try to portray more positive items to children, but many children are overcome with the negative ways of advertising.

Television impacts children the most as far as advertising goes. Many children as young as three years old recognize brand named products and clothing. When these children spend time watching so much television they cannot help but be influenced by it, and want what they see. These children become so obsessed with having what they see on television that they continue to hassle their parents until they get it. Some parents may even have trouble keeping up with the amount of money their child thinks that they need so they may have the newest products out there. These children that are watching more television, are going to want more toys seen in advertisements and eat more advertised food than children who do not watch as much television.

Although many advertisements are negatively affecting children there are those few advertisements out there that are beneficial. For example the ones that are selling educational books for children, and other types of learning materials. These products are nothing but beneficial to younger children. Parents need to be more aware and cautious of what their children are watching and how much of it they are watching. Limit their television time with something a little more educational like reading a book or playing outside.

Television, a permanent part of our homes, affects our children in more way than one. In today's world, the concern parents show regarding television viewing is understood. They can see their children become overweight and lethargic right in front of their eyes. Stopping something in one go, never works well with one. How can parents then, ask their children to stop viewing TV all of a sudden when they have been fine with it for all these years? Most of the times, parents themselves view television for long hours with their children. It is very important to know how TV affects your child, to know what you are allowing right in front of your eyes. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that children below 2 years shouldn't be viewing TV at all, if they have to grow at normal rates. The negative effects of television are way too many for us to ignore today. Yes, there are some positive factors too, but the negative overshadow them any given day. How TV Affects Your Children. Watching television everyday for a few hours has now become a necessity. Parents should treat this like an addiction, to help their children recover better. Just like an addiction, excessive television viewing has its negative effects on your child's health. Mentioned below are ways in which television affects your child and what you can do about it as a parent. Read on...Physical and Mental Development. When your child sits on a couch, in front of the idiot box for long hours, his body isn't moving one bit. There is no exercise in the slightest of forms. This means that they body is not getting used to movement at all. At an earlier stage of growth, this affects your child's balancing capabilities too. It is said that viewing television for a little time everyday isn't going to cause any harm, but excessive viewing will lead to developmental problems in the child. He will stop interacting with people and will find it uncomfortable to be social. This is the reason why children below 2 years are expected to not see television at all. Health Issues. Television also has its negative effects on your child's diet and weight. You will see that your child is becoming more lethargic by the day. Even when he is not in front of the television, he will not be very active which eventually, will lead to increase in his weight. Also, after a period of sometime, he's bound to be overweight. He will consume food that is easily eaten in front of the TV. Binge eating starts in this manner itself. Your child will also start having problems regarding sensitivity of his eyes. Due to the constant light emitting from the television, your child's eyes will start watering every now and then. This tells you how TV affects your child's health to a great extent. The Violence Angle. Over the years there has been an increasing amount of violence in media directed towards children. There have also been an increasing number of violent acts directed toward children and the high degree of these acts that children see on television, in movies, computer games, videotapes, and the large number of violent toys. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) feels that the increasing number of violence endangers children from growing up in a mentally stable way. The NAEYC came up with three consistent problems when children watch television violence: children will notice others pain less, they may become scared of things in the world they live in, and they are more likely to show aggressive behavior towards other people. When children see violence all around them in media, they will feel that violence is the answer when they are angry or disturbed. NAEYC would like to start putting limits on the amount of violence put on television during the time when children will most likely be watching. They also would like to limit the amount of advertising on television during these times, so that kids can tell the advertisements and the television show apart. Teachers and parents can help get rid of the amount of violence that is shown to children. Teachers can help teach children that television is not real and that violence should not be the answer to solve problems. Parents can regulate the television shows that they are allowing their children to watch and make sure they are not watching shows that teach them violence.

 The problem of violence shown to children in the media will not be solved easily. This violence doesn’t only show how violent our society is, but it helps make our society more violent. If we continue to allow the violence on television that is consistently shown to our children, then our future nation will have a large quantity of angry adults and criminals. Television portrays violence very causally. In some situations, certain stories will also show and justify to you, how violence at times is justified. The lives of gangsters and criminals are shown in a very glorified way, which fascinates children at young age. Social taboos such as substance abuse and prostitution are shown in such a way that, now, they seem accepted. Sexual intercourse at a young age is cool today, because television told us so. Drinking, smoking and the violence arising as after effects of drinking are shown as problems every household faces, and it's pretty common to behave in a particular way. The psychology behind television violence and children is indeed very disturbing. Relationships are taken at face value with less emotions involved. Reduces Thinking Capacity. This is a perfect example of how TV affects your child's thinking capacity and creativity. If your child is continuously watching TV in his free time, he is staying away from other interesting hobbies and activities. His imagination power and his creativity levels are not tested at all as he is just in front of the TV, grasping in whatever is shown. Instead of this, if he were to read a book or play a sport, his body and mind would get exercised. Children need to imagine and think as a part of mental growth, only then will they know what they want from their lives. If your child needs to think, he needs to first stop excessive TV viewing. There are some positive effects of watching TV too. If you watch TV with your child for 2 hours every day, you can talk about what you see. This will reduce the bad effects of television on children in a way. Make sure you watch only quality programming such as shows on the wildlife and current affairs, which will tell your child what's happening in places all around the world. Now that you know how TV affects your child's health and development, stop this habit before it's too late. Although many advertisements are negatively affecting children there are those few advertisements out there that are beneficial. For example the ones that are selling educational books for children, and other types of learning materials. These products are nothing but beneficial to children. Parents need to be more aware and cautious of what their children are watching and how much of it they are watching. Limit their television time with something a little more educational like reading a book or playing outside.