Kids should be supervised when watching the television; otherwise, it may have negative effects on them. The American Academic of Paediatrics (AAP) recommends that children above the age of 2 years should watch the TV a maximum of two hours per day. Children between the ages of 8 and 18 should spend a maximum of four hours of their day watching TV. With an aim of combating the negative effects of television, AAP recommends parents to control the amount of time watching television.
On average, an American kid watches 200,000 violence acts before attaining the age of 18 and this is dangerous because it might cause aggressiveness in kids. The TV does not show the effects of such violence acts. Fictional violence from such programs and real life violence from news might end up causing nightmares to children.
Another negative effect of this behavior is that it affects the nutrition of a kid by causing obesity. Television watching attracts unhealthy eating habits like eating while watching. Kids who spend more hours watch could end up being obese because they lack time to play outdoor games which are essential in exercising. Kids view food commercials that encourage them to eat unhealthy foods because they make them cool and happy. They want to copy such ads because they view them to be good.
Smoking and drugs abuse are normally glorified on TV; therefore, kids find it appropriate to so. Although smoking ads have been banned from some TV stations, kids still see the same act on some TV shows and there is an increase in the number of alcohol ads on screens. Research shows that kids who watch more than five hours a day have a higher likelihood of smoking compared to children who watch less than two hours a day. A research carried out by AAP indicates that there is a correlation between television viewing and music video viewing and consumption of alcohol among most teenagers.
TVs have become the leading sources of sex material for children. A study presented by AAP shows that kids are exposed to adult content in movies and televisions at a tender age. Kids who are exposed to sex during early stages of life tend to becomes sexually active early during their adolescence stage. Shows make some risky sexual behavior to seem cool and exciting and this fails to address real life consequences of such acts.
Sources:
5 Extremely Unhealthy Eating Habits to Avoid
Mainstream Media and How it Effects Alcohol Use in Children
Media and Risky Behaviors
How True Are Our Assumptions about Screen Time?
