television is bad for children

Television is Bad for Children

By the time children reach school, they have spent one-third of their waking hours in front of the television. The enormous influence of TV is just beginning to be realized, we have found out that most of the effects are bad. Far too much of a child’s time is wasted. I think television is bad for children.They should rarely be allowed to watch it.
When children watch a lot of television, they don’t get a lot of of physical exercise. They just sit and watch all day. Often, they eat snacks while they watch TV. The snacks are probably cookies and potato chips and other food that is bad for their health. Children need to get a lot of exercise. They need to play active games. They also need to eat healthy food. Television watching does not encourage any of this.
When children watch a lot of television, they are exposed to a lot of information and ideas. Some of these are educational, but a lot of them are not. Children don’t always know the difference. They watch hours of murders, fights, and crimes every week, with no adult around to tell them that life is not like that most of the time. The effect of the heavy doses of violence is suggests to children that violence is an ordinary way of life, and that shooting and cheating are ways to succeed. In addition, if children learn about adult topics from TV, they will have a distorted view of the world.
When children watch a lot of television, they are encouraged to be materialistic. They get surrounded by advertisements for dangerous toys, mindless games, and unhealthy foods. They force their parents to buy them, for the children themselves are not wise enough to detect the falsity of so much advertising. Advertising teaches children that having a lot of things is important. It teaches children that they must always have the newest, biggest, or most expensive thing. In addition, the characters on TV shows drive new cars, have fashionable clothes, and live in big houses. This also encourages children to want things.
When children watch a lot of television, they are becoming passive. They just sit back and let things happen to them. Children are inventive; they have the ability to imagine a whole world of their own. But what happens when their imagination is not needed? When TV does all the imagining for them? Obviously, these kids are not going to grow up as inventive and imaginative as their parents, for they have been robbed of creative impulses by watching television.
The total effect of most TV viewing is dangerous. It is time for parents to take charge and supervise their children’s play. To engage in activities with their children, instead of parking them by the tube and hoping it will act as a baby sitter. The influence of TV is so serious that parents will have to be on their guard at all times, in order to make sure that their children are not being harmed by exposure to it.