Children and Television

Joyce Weng
May 7, 2009
Child Psychology
Langfelder
Final Paper
ABSTRACT:

Children are extremely susceptible because they are in their

developmental years. Therefore, it should be understood that

television could be both beneficial and harmful, depending on the

televised program. Violent series will cause aggressive attitudes, while

“instructional” series can aid in a healthy personality. Though, neither

types of programs can help the growing pandemic related to Obesity

and Type II Diabetes.

 There is always that cliché image of a person who is recently out

of a job, hopelessly lounging in front of a television eating cold Chinese

food or sleeping through a midday soap opera that is blaring to no one

from the glare of the television screen. Many people have long

wondered about the effects of television but more specifically, there

are concerns for what the consequences of television may be in

children, long before they are old enough to fulfill the picture

previously described. However, like with most activities during an

individual’s daily life, there are the benefits and then there are the

disadvantages to television and its relationship with developing

children.

Since the eighties there have been growing proof supporting the

theory that television, especially educational series like “Sesame

Street” actually have prolonged, beneficial effects on young children.

Questions and theories to answer those questions began to develop

concerning television. “Only recently have ‘television researchers’

directed their attention specifically to how viewers watch television

and what information they retain from watching television.” This was

said in 1984. Those who studied the effects of television began to

focus on people’s physiological response to television rather than

television program’s ability to effect people. Only two years later in

1986, another article said, “impressive evidence that televised

instruction for children may be effective in teaching a wide range of

conceptual and social behaviors…” brought back the old questions

revolving around television’s capabilities. The huge boom in

“television research” has found that there are many benefits to

“instructional television.”

The first issue that ought to be addressed is television and its

benefits. How beneficial is it when the media is allowed to manipulate

the development of a child? As with anything else that may effect a

child’s development, each tool should be used carefully and

meticulously. Is it unethical to play on a child’s desires through

commercials for financial gains? These questions are left unanswered.

The question that was brought up within a couple of articles had much

to do with the “type of viewing” children use when watching television.

This, of course, pertains to “attentional variables.” In other words,

how a child watches a television program consists of every factor that

is involved with what helps and what detracts from a child’s attention

span. It makes sense that attention is at the forefront of television

viewing research because if a television program or commercial does

not hold a child’s attention, then there would be little to study.

 This leads to the article with the study on children’s attention

span with different video and audio mixes.

“Equal numbers of subjects viewed an experimental segment in

which (a) the audio and video tracks were from the same

segment, (b) the audio and video tracks were not from the same

segment, (c) the video track was presented alone, or (d) the

audio track was presented alone.”

The results were predictable to anyone who had just come out of a

public school education. Starting with the first type of segment

mentioned, attention spans and the ability to remember what

information was given would start to decrease as the list went on. In

other words, memory and attention is best when the visual match the

audio and simultaneously at its worse when only sound is presented.

Why is this? The conclusion seems to be that the visuals and sounds

that comes from the outside world, which the brain receives seems to

be sorted out by the brain as one individual message. Therefore, it is

important to know for “learning outcomes” that a child requires both

visual and audio components of a presentation, whether it is live or

televised, in order for the child to acquire the most out of the exercise.

On the other hand, what if television is used as pure, bloody

entertainment? It was found in one study that “aggressive” attitudes

among boys during or even before a violent television program, only

made the boys act more violently towards each other after the
program had ended. “A 9–item checklist was used to measure the

subjects’ characteristic level of aggressiveness.” This is similar to how

the DSM works where subjects must meet a certain number of criteria

from a set list of possible specifications before attaining the conclusion

he or she has a certain condition. Only in this case it is a particular

behavior. “Groups receiving violent television without cues were

significantly more aggressive than were non – violent viewing

groups…” It is pretty clear what type of conclusion was drawn here.

Violent television programs are intrinsically linked with combative or

hostile attitudes among children.

There has been a more recent growing interest and concern with

television and obesity that reflects current concerns, which were not

present, or maybe were not as apparent, back in the eighties.

According to the American Obesity Association, one out of every three

child between the ages of six and eleven were overweight in 2006.

More astonishingly though was the fact that 15.3% of all children in

that age bracket were considered obese and this number did not

reflect a percentage of only those who were already considered

overweight. The advent of technological entertainment on televisions,

computers, and video game consoles are the prime suspects for being

the main culprits for why there are growing cases of Type II Diabetes

among children. “Obesity in children increases the more hours they

watch television.” This was the conclusion of several people from

notable organizations and universities, including the Centers for

Disease Control in 2001. Later on in 2003, more specific studies were

conducted and produced the findings that “more than 60% of

overweight incidents can be linked to excess TV viewing.” By 2004,

the results are conclusively stated by Vandewater and Caplovitz.

“Children who use a lot of media have a lower activity level which is

linked to a higher rate of obesity.” This is not just about diet and

exercise but it is also about altering priorities and daily routines so that

health continues to come out on top.

Studies on television started decades ago with concerns for

how it could effect children. It was found the television programs could

be created to teach children effectively. Meanwhile, television

programs also have the power to cause belligerent behaviors,

particularly among young boys. Presently, the main concern of today’s

educators and parents alike are the rising numbers of children with

Type II Diabetes and related obese body forms, as a result of a

widespread lack of exercise as more and more time is spent sitting in

front of the glare of a monitor or television screen.

REFERENCES:
Henderson, R. & Rankin, R. (1986). Preschoolers’ viewing of
instructional television.
Journal of Educational Psychology, (78)1, 44-51. doi:
10.1037/0022-0663.78.1.44

Josephson, W. (1987). Television violence and children’s aggression:

testing the
priming, social script, and disinhibition predictions. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, (53)5, 882-890. doi:
10.1037/0022-3514.53.5.882

National Institute on Media and the Family. (2006) Media use and
obesity among
children. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from National Institute on Media
and the Family
Web site:
http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_tvandobchild.shtml

Pezdek, K. & Stevens, E. (1984). Children’s memory for auditory and

visual
information on television. Developmental Psychology, (20)2, 212-
218. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.2.212