Children and TV
Forget satsumas, woolly gloves and pencil sets. These days children hope that Father Christmas will be filling their stockings with videos, DVD's and computer games. 60% of children spend more than 25 hours a week staring at the little screen, whether for the TV or playing computer games. Over the Christmas period, with no boring old school to get in the way, viewing hours soar and the TV may be on all day. Does it really matter? Should parents get hot and bothered, or is it simple good safe fun?
A little bit of television is fine, but hour after hour is not good for anyone and there are several reasons why it may be harmful. These include:
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the antisocial nature of TV and computer games
| learning the wrong messages and values about life
| the couch-potato problem
| specific risks such as convulsions |
TV and computer games throw a spanner into the normal works of social interaction. There's precious little conversation or communication as everyone's attention gets drawn towards the set. Interaction is brief, usually directed at events on the screen. Any continuity of conversation is thwarted, replaced by the instant gratification and excitement of the screen.
One paediatrician has described it as 'Just like the operating room light, television creates an environment that assaults and overwhelms the child; he can respond to it only by bringing into play his shutdown mechanism, and thus become more passive… he is hooked.'
TV and computer games use up time which would otherwise be devoted to family things, play or reading, all of which are important for normal speech and language development as well as the development of social skills.
There's no doubt that what children see on the TV shapes their view of the world.
Fifty-seven percent of television programs contain 'psychologically harmful' violence, according to researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara who recently tracked 2,500 hours of television. They warned that the risks of viewing the most common depiction of televised violence include:
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learning to behave violently
| becoming more desensitized to the harmful consequences of violence
| and becoming more fearful of being attacked. |
Television violence can have a deep impact on young minds - see what the medical profession think at www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/310/6975/273.
Other research has shown that horror movies can lead to post-traumatic stress in children (www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/308/6925/389)
Violence and horror aren't the only 'wrong' messages. TV also carries strong messages about sexual attitudes, racial and sexual stereotypes, and habits such as drinking and smoking, as well as many other important aspects of life.
Television is turning children into tubbies, as they sit around more and get out and about less. Television also encourages children to follow a junk food diet because it bombards them with images of high fat, high sugar snacks and drinks.
But you can prevent this. Research from Stanford University in California shows that cutting down viewing hours does prevent your children from piling on pounds.
A couple of years ago hundreds of children in Japan were admitted to hospital with fits, vomiting, eye irritation and breathing difficulties, following a screening of a Pokemon cartoon. The trigger was a brief 5-second scene where the screen was filled by a bright red explosion accompanied by strobe lights and followed by a white flash, and the main character's eyes flashing red.
The flickering lights and intense colors are known possible triggers of epileptic attacks - 1 in 3,500 people in the UK are thought to suffer from photo-sensitive epilepsy. It commonly starts at puberty (peak computer game time!) and most never grow out of it.
Computer games may be worse than TV because of the patterns and frequencies they use, but either may trigger the first epileptic fit for 150 teenagers each year in Britain. The Independent Television Commission guidelines advise that lights or images flickering above a set frequency should be avoided, images should not dominate the screen and repetitive psychedelic patterns should be avoided.
To reduce the chance of a seizure, the British Epilepsy Association recommends that:
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children should sit at least 2 feet (60 cm) away from the screen in a well-lit room.
| Additionally, the brightness of the screen should be adjusted to the minimum viewable setting
| If they approach the set, the child should cover one eye because the condition is a function of binocular vision. If one eye is covered, most people are no longer sensitive.
| Children should not be allowed to play video games if they are tired. |
The effect of video games on photosensitive epileptics is discussed by Professor Graham Harding, Professor of Clinical Neurophysiology at the University of Aston at www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/hstories/hr161004.htm.
Get your children out and about at least once a day, for exercise and a dose of Vitamin D, even if it is pouring with rain. You will benefit from the exercise too.
Develop specific interests with your children, such as painting, tennis or music.
Talk to your children - do everything you can to encourage a little conversation every day.
Try to be aware of what your children are watching. Young ones can more easily be distracted but with older children you may need to lay down some heavy house rules about viewing times and choices.
Watch programs with your children and if issues such as violence or sexual stereotypes arise, talk about these issues with your children. Tell them why the TV makes you uncomfortable or ask them for their views on what they are watching and whether it seems fair and right.
Your children learn from the TV, but more importantly they learn from their parents and other adult role models. Act as a filter for the way your children interpret the TV - help them understand it in the right context rather than banning it altogether.
If you really can't stand any more then it may be time to 'kill' your television, or at least send it on holiday for a few weeks (perhaps after the Christmas fun)! All the persuasion you need to chuck it out is at www.netreach.net/~kaufman/children.html. Or take advice about raising children optimally in a media age.
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