The Effects of Media on Our Children There has been disagreements about whether or not media, television and video games, have an effect on our children, well I definitely believe that it does. People used to be able to drive down the road and see children playing and having fun but since video games were invented, children would rather stay inside and play their games than go outside and play. Being less active can create many problems, such as weight gain, other health issues, being socially isolated, and some children even become violent after watching the violence on television or playing violent video games. So should we or shouldn’t we limit their television and video game time? What would be the pros and cons if we do or don’t limit their time? Some research shows that there is no difference in children after watching violence and playing violent video games and then there is other research that states that it does, have an impact on the behaviors of children. According to psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann, Leonard Eron, “Children who watched many hours of violence on television when they were in elementary school tended to show higher levels of aggressive behavior when they became teenagers.” (para. 3)
Children who play video games and watch a lot of television tend to gain weight because they are in front of the television all day and either not eating much or snacking on bad foods and drinks instead of being outside and being active. “The nutritional value of food and drinks advertised on children’s television programs is worse than food shown in ads during general air time” According to University of Illinois at Chicago researchers. Most of the advertisements you see on television are for McDonald’s, Burger King, Kraft mac and cheese, Ballpark hot dogs, which are all high in saturated fats and drinks full sugar and those advertisements are teaching our children to eat those types of foods and drinks. (Over 95% of food and beverage ads on children’s programming are unhealthy products: Study, 2013) Studies have also been done that show how the media has more influence on children than their teachers, before they graduate high school. According to Pediatrics and Child Health’s Children and the media (1999), “By high school graduation, the average teen will have spent more time watching television than in the classroom.” (para 6). Although children can also learn from television, there is more time spent on the non-educational programs than being educated from television and school than parents realize. (Children and the media, 1999) Another problem would be becoming socially isolated from the rest of the world and family. According to an article called Social Consequences of Gaming Addiction,
“An addicted teenager won't develop effective social skills, which will hinder his ability to develop and maintain healthy relationships in college and beyond”. Children who have televisions in their rooms spend a lot of time in their rooms playing their games instead of being out with the family or out with other children their age, so they are not getting any kind of socializing with other children their age. Socializing is important in the growth of children because it helps their self-esteem and abilities to communicate with others. So one may ask themself, how can we fix this problem? There are many options such as limiting the time that children are playing their video games or watching television. There is also monitoring the types of shows and movies they watch and the video games that they play. Now a days with the technology we have, you can even control the television from where ever you are. You can also use the parental controls that most televisions come with, which makes it pretty easy to limit what they watch. There are many resources out there for a parent to research and decide on their own whether or not their child should be limited on the things that they watch.