Is Television Beneficial for Our Children to Watch?

We have all wondered if television is bad for our kids, is it really a bad influence? After much debate with other mothers and grandmothers I decided to have an open mind and try to judge for myself whether or not television is good for my children.

I just recently sat down with my son to watch a half hour program called HI-5. It was quite the silly show. The show has five characters in it, three women and two men. They all dress up in various costumes, this time it was animals. They act just as we see children act when their imagination is running wild, there is also some learning to be gained. During the course of the show we learned how to make a Kings crown, a toy guitar, and a wind chime. The show encourages singing, dancing, counting, playing instruments, and puddle jumping. The show also made a point in saying that we are all special in our own way. There was no cultural stereotyping. There were no violent or aggressive acts, unless you count them banging on trashcans and other junkyard objects to make music while dressed up as animals aggressive. There was nothing in the show that could cause fear, but there was a moment of stress when a characters puppet hid another characters things. This show is aimed for the younger viewers. There are not many shows that I would recommend, but I would this one.

A recent study suggests that viewing television under the age of three can damage reading comprehension and short term memory. The same study tested children who did not watch a significant amount of television until they were three-five and found that those children scored higher on reading recognition than children ages six-seven (Stanton,2005).

One really troubling link between children and television is obesity. Kids who watch more than four hours a day have more than 20% more body fat than kids who watch television less than two hours a day (Pierce, 1998). It is an unfortunate fact that television has become the baby sitter for the always busy moms and dads. A little bit of exercise and family time a day can greatly reduce the link to obesity.

Television is not all bad. A worthwhile show such as Sesame Street or Mister Rodgers Neighborhood can teach your child valuable lessons. I have found that it makes it even more worthwhile if you sit down with your child and go over the show with them. If you interact with your child every day by doing things like reading them books and exercising then you should not feel guilty for letting them watch a half hour age appropriate show once in a while. As parents we just have to take some time to filter out the good television from the bad first. All television teaches something, we just have to ask ourselves first if it is something that we want them to learn.

Sources:　

Pierce, A. (1998). Reduce kids obesity with less t. v, more activity. Pro-quest database(28506626).

Stanton, C. (2005). T.V viewing good and bad for kids, Seattle study says. Seattle Times archives.