The Impact of Television on Childhood Development

Everyone agrees that in today's society, television has a significant impact on us all. How it affects children is of primary concern, as it is in childhood that we are given the tools we need to become successful, respectful citizens as adults. How exactly does television impact childhood, and what should we do to ensure that that impact is a positive one?

Television is one of the first ways in which children learn about gender roles and stereotypes. Although family and peer groups also teach these roles, it is through television that children are inundated with the sex roles and stereotypes that reflect the ideas of a handful of people in charge of creating and programming this medium. Although these portrayals have broadened in the last ten or so years to include more diversity in gender stereotyping, there are still many television icons that denote negative gender images, such as the Bratz.

Bratz are a Saturday morning cartoon and a glut of heavily marketed toys and clothing products that represent tweens and early teens as overly sexualized independent young women with attitude. Although I admire the strength and empowerment they embody, I am also incredibly concerned with the revealing clothing, heavy makeup, and defensive postures the characters all seem to take.

I can't help but wonder what a ten-year-old watching these girls would take away as being the feminine traits that they represent. Will she want to identify with the strength and independence or with the heavy-handed sexuality that she sees? Add to that television's fascination with glamorous girl icons such as Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton, and what are young girls supposed to believe about being a girl?

Boys likewise have macho images to imitate-superheroes and wrestlers and sports heroes. What does that teach them about being male? How does the repetition of these images teach boys how to respect others, cooperate, and engage with those around them?

These problems with television's sex and gender stereotypes can only make it more difficult for these children to develop socially and emotionally. Being taught these gender stereotypes may make it almost impossible for some children to break out of those roles and become comfortable with all their traits and individualities.

If a boy is taught by television that men are always strong, what does he do with his own characteristics that defy that stereotype-does he continue to build his nurturing qualities or quash them in an effort to fit in? Do children learn that relationships only work when both people are behaving according to television's ideas of their gender stereotypes, or do children learn to accept and respect people along the entire continuum of gender traits?

If children are lost in this quagmire of conflicting information about who they should be and how they should act, clearly they will not be able to develop the strong self-esteem they need to be successful, either at school or in relationships. There is a strong bond between all three of these developmental areas.

There are lots of arguments made that television is a bane to the moral development of children. Violent television, especially, has been examined in over 1000 studies and reviews, and has been found guilty on the charges of increasing fear and aggression in children who watch too much violent. However, in many shows and in children's programming especially, morality is key, with the entire story line being written around one character's moral dilemma and the healthy resolution of that dilemma, offering children a way to see how morality works in action in ways that apply to their lives.

Cognitively, there is some ambiguity of the impact of television. There is the argument that television is responsible for the "dumbing down" of America, that television is responsible for shutting down our brains and acting as a tranquilizer. But there are also a great many good educational and instructional shows that teach children interactively in ways that books simply cannot, and a perceptive look at television programs today verses those created twenty years ago reveals that shows have actually gotten more complex, with layers of storytelling and subtle nuances that audiences have to work harder to comprehend.

Clearly, television is a powerful tool that can alter a child's ideas about the world. How those ideas change and how the child changes in response demonstrate how the tool was used. Television can be detrimental to childhood; in fact, too much television watching is strongly correlated with childhood obesity. The time spent in front of the television could often be better spent in other ways-with friends, actively playing, or doing homework-and this often has negative consequences for the child, such as poor relationships or worse performance in school content. However, television watching can also be productive for children.

Television can offer children the chance to see other parts of the world and other cultures without having to leave home. Children's educational programs and documentaries can teach them about animals, science, math, reading-just about any subject the child has an interest in. The key to making the time spent watching television rewarding is the manner in which it is done.

If parents take the time to choose carefully the programs they want their children to watch, and then sit down and watch the show with them, asking questions to promote understanding, then that time is highly beneficial for the child. However, if parents don't take the time to choose the child's programs and just sit Junior down and let the television act as babysitter, then the time spent watching television will not only probably not teach that child new things, but he will also not be participating in the powerful social interaction he craves.

In a 2001 article in The Nation, author Maggie Cutler makes the point that although television viewing is a rite of passage for American kids today, parents need to remember "the rule of the real": that real life is always more powerful. A real conversation is always better for children than watching one on television. Parents don't need to go to the extreme of keeping their children from watching television completely; they just have to keep in mind moderation and attention is best.
For parents, the question of whether or not to let a child watch television is like the question of whether or not to let a child eat at McDonald's. There are potentially good and bad effects of each, and both decisions weigh on a child's health. A cheeseburger and fries every once in awhile won't do any lasting damage; nor will an hour of cartoons just for entertainment every now and then. However, a menu with little more than that will cause grave damage to a child's development physically, emotionally, cognitively, and socially.