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Television and Your Childs Mind

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Theo 104 | Television and Your Child’s Mind | Advertisement on Youths | | Latonya Jones | 11/25/2013 |

Advertisements that are not suitable for youths can affect their minds because they can pick up bad habits from seeing something on television that they are too young to see. We are too familiar with the saying “TV Can Rot a Child’s Mind.” But as long as we as parents do our jobs as monitors of what our children are watching this wouldn’t have to be an issue. Before us as responsible parents decide to sit our children in front of a television set we should ask ourselves this very important question, which is how much t.v is too much t.v for our children? The reason why this question should be given some thought is because television can affect a child’s mind in a way that could be negative or positive. What we most definitely do not want is a negative affect which results in long lasting to damage to your child or children’s development. For the most part in the early stages of a child’s development they are primarily visually stimulated and will be learning pretty much everything from what they see. So to be aware of what and how much your child or children are taking in is a number one priority. Another thing that I would suggest, being a parent of two is setting time limits like an hour or two a day of television daily. Nowadays there are so many different kinds of t.v programs for your children to watch that are suitable for them, for example “My Little Pony” and “Friendship is Magic.” When you child watch these kind of t.v shows they will be learning the importance of friendship and loyalty to one another. Another one of my viewer’s choice selection would be like “Dora the Explorer” and “Sesame Street” which teaches your youth how to say their alphabets, how to count, and how to spell. One show that is acceptable for children of all ages is the “Care Bears” because these bears have taught me and many others like me the power of caring, and sharing and kindness to others. The previous examples of acceptable t.v programs were all cartoons that can be found on the hub network, one of the many cable television stations. Theses few selections although there are thousands of others can be used as the building blocks that will give your child character strengthen their moral standards and encourage good behavior. When it comes to what not to let your youth watch there are a lot of program’s that comes to mind that just because they are presented to their audience in a cartoon format viewer’s discretion is advised. The first one that is a big no-no when children are viewing television shows is a show called “Family Guy”, if you have seen this particular program you know already that it is unacceptable for a child. Here are a few reasons why it is not suitable for a child; there is a baby in this show that uses a lot of profanity and some of the other characters use curse words also. Moving on to another show is “The Simpsons” although over the years the show has been working on cleaning up their act it’s still not something you would want your youth watching if they are still in the impressionable stages of their mental growth because Bart and Homer Simpson are not characters that you want to be your child’s role model. And the list goes on and on so we should be very careful of what we are letting our youth watch. Some other channels that I found to be acceptable during my parenting experience that do not contain violence or foul language are as follows “Nickelodeon, Disney channel, Nick Junior and the Carton Network.” It is understood that not all parents have the time to monitor each and everything that their child may choose to watch so it is a good thing that your t.v and cable devices gives you the ability to lockout the channels that you may find to be unsuitable for your child’s viewing. As far as knowing when to unlock the channels is strictly up to you but its ok to do so as your child begins to grow and mature although the channels listed above are my recommendations of kid’s safe programming. There is something more important to your child’s development which is educational programming; it is the right choice to make when it comes to a child’s development. If you have a child that has not yet started to attend school then you would be in fact giving them a head start when they finally do begin to go to school. Upon the start of your child’s schooling experience the continuation of educational t.v is a must because of the fact that it will reinforce what they have learned during their school day. The education of the youth’s today is now more important than ever because without an education your child will have a very little chance to progress and grow in this society. With the economy slowly declining there is only room in the job market for students who have successfully obtained a degree, diploma, or Ged. So to assure that our children educational needs are met and maintained is our jobs as parents and educators. As a child I grew up watching Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and Lamb chop’s Play Along. As watching the shows as a youth my comprehension level grew and my understanding of what I was learning at school as well. Since then there has been a lot of new additions to the educational t.v line that I at times will sit and enjoy along with my children. I love to see their faces light up when they are learning something new. We as parents play a major part in what kind of advertisements and t.v shows we allow our children to watch. And to take the initiative in controlling what our children are watching and learning is literally in our hands. Allowing your child to watch shows that are unacceptable for their ages will be the beginning of the rotting of their minds.

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