Television Has Its Good Side Essay Example
Television Has Its Good Side Essay Example

Television Has Its Good Side Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 4 (1044 words)
  • Published: November 7, 2017
  • Type: Essay
View Entire Sample
Text preview

Television Has Its Good Side Television has become an important tool of entertainment and education for children. But is television really bad for children or the other way around? Or maybe both? It depends, it’s what programs and how many hours a day parents allow their children to watch that decide if television affects the child positively or negatively.

Television is not necessarily bad for children as many parents and experts argue; there are plenty of educational programs out there such as PBS that help young children prepare for school both mentally and socially.In other words they tend to do better in school than those who are restricted to watch any television at all by their parents or than those who watch the “wrong” programs for their age. Television has a positive effect on children who watch age-appropriate channels because they lear

...

n good things from them. Television can be educational if used correctly by parents and won’t affect children physically or mentally in a negative way.

According to the American Medical Association children who watch more than 10 hours of television per week are “more likely to be overweight, aggressive and slow to learn in school”(Springen 293).That doesn’t mean television is a negative influence on children, in fact watching age-appropriate channels and at least an hour of physical activity a day will keep them from obesity and being slow learners. Letting children under the age of 3 watch television can harm their “reading comprehension and short-term memory” as a study by Seattle researchers shows(Stanton). The same study shows that children between ages 3-5 can improve some of their “cognitive abilities” by watching television more tha

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

3 hours a day, this children tend to score high on the reading recognition part in tests they take when they are 6-7 years of age.

Children can watch television without missing out on daily physical activities and still be smart kids. It’s up to the parents on just how many hours a day their children watch television as well as involving their children in physical activities such as sports teams or just taking them to the park. Children “are natural born learners” says Geraldine Laybourne, president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks, and they will learn anything from television(Marks). It’s the parents decision to chose whether their child will learn something positive or negative.

Television programs can be used as a teaching tool for children in teaching them how to count, read, and write. Children will learn a lot from watching channels such as “Sesame Street” because it gives them the basics of counting and words in an entertaining way. In the article, “Television Programs Get Kids Ready for School”, it talks about a vice principal named Grace Foxwell Murdock who realized that many kids came to school “without the proper skills” and so she got the idea of creating a local TV program which focused on learning activities, such as the alphabet, math, reading, and speech(Reading Today).These programs are the ones parents should look out for since they can teach the basics to their children who are getting ready to start school. Having a younger brother and a sister that watched television and are really smart makes me understand that TV has its good sides.

They watch television, especially educational programs when they were younger and are

still physically active as well as mentally. I have a younger brother and a sister, they watched television since they were like 3 years of age and yet they are smart kids and not face obesity.My mom started introducing them to the PBS channel and they watched programs like “Sesame Street” and “Arthur”. They loved that channel and as they started school they were always getting good grades and even learned to read pretty fast for someone their age as well as speak. I’ve know children their age that have trouble speaking and reading and I do know that they didn’t watch educational programs, instead they watched movies and cartoons like “Spiderman”.

So children watching educational programs tends to have a positive effect on them.Television not only has educational programs but also programs that entertain them as well as teach them of the different cultures that exist in the world. There’s programs like “Animal Planet”, which can teach children about the different kinds of animals there are in the world as well as being curious about them. Watching an age-appropriate program with your child and then discussing that program with your child after it finishes is also a great way for your child to learn.

Television has its good sides as well as its bad sides, but it’s up to the parent to decide what to let their children watch.Many experts recommend no television for children 2 years of age or less and about 2-3 hours a day of educational programming for children ages 3-5. Controlling your Children’s television hours, spending time with your kids, and getting your kid involved in physical activities is a

key part to their development. Some parents and experts out there might argue that television is full of negative effects for children but they seem to forget that television doesn’t just revolve around negative effects.Television should not be seen as something that interferes with children’s mental development as well as physical but rather as a good way to help your child learn and prepare for school by watching educational programs.

Works Cited 1. Stanton, Carina. "TV viewing good and bad for kids, Seattle study says. " 5 July 2205.

The Seattle Times. 25 Sept. 2008 <http://seattletimes. nwsource. com/html/localnews/2002357593_tv05m. html>.

2. Springen, Karen. “Why We Tuned Out”. To the Point : Reading and Writing Short Arguments.

New York: Longman, 2008. 3.Marks, Alexandra. “Will Kids Tune In To Watch Quality Television? ”. Christian Science Monitor 31July, 1996: 3.

Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. San Diego State University 25 Sept. 2008 <http://web.

ebscohost. comlibproxy. sdsu/edu/ehost/delivery? vid=12&hi..

. > 4. “Television Programs Get Kids Ready For School”. Reading Today Aug. /Sept. 2006: 42.

Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. San Diego State University 25 Sept. 2008 < http://web. ebscohost.

com. libproxy. sdsu. edu/ehost/pdf? vid=4&hid=107&sid=dec088df-9624-4dc4-8fe4-7f7d7a394a6f%40sessionmgr104>

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New