The Way TV Helps Increasing Knowledge and Skills on Children - Literature review Example

TV Helps Increasing Knowledge and Skills on Children Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Abstract Television programmes have different impacts on children. This paper presents a discussion of the various effects of TV by evaluating how different programmes affect children’s knowledge and skills. The positive effects of TV programmes include improvement of children’s learning capabilities through increased level of comprehension, thinking, creativity and imagination, which are very important for cognitive development. TV also increases children’s ability to self-regulate their behaviours and thus enhances performance of tasks and interaction among children, which enables integration of knowledge and skills. In spite of its benefits, TV deprives children of their time required for reading and participation in other important cognitive development activities. Educators and parents thus have to strike a balance when recruiting teachers for children TV education. Introduction It is commonplace for children to spend most their leisure time glued to television screens- perhaps because the screens captivate them. Many researchers have noted that children’s continuous watching of television influences their mode of understanding and affects how they interpret what they watch and relate it to the environment they are in contact with. Although there are many forms of media that suit children in terms of communication and expression, it is noteworthy that visual media are more captivating since they seem to speak a universal language that can be accessed across all age groups. In spite of the popularity of the TV as mode of communication, there are questions regarding the content that is aired and how it influences the behaviour of children as well as their skills and knowledge (Gunter & McAleer, 1997). Sprafkin, Gadow and Abelman (1992) note that by watching TV frequently, children are able to integrate stimuli from different perspectives, for example visual versus auditory capabilities and therefore increase their level of reasoning and thinking tremendously. The authors also note that by watching television, children and able to increase their level of attention and perception- which occurs almost involuntarily. This is because the children are able to integrate and assimilate various ideas from the different programmes they watch and therefore have more capability to infer various incidences and relate them to their way of thinking. In addition to this, Neuman (1995) notes that informative TV programmes increase children’s imaginative capabilities and therefore boost their performance in various activities. Despite the many informative and educational impacts of TV to children, some programmes have been criticised for instigating violence and other forms of moral decadency among children (Thakkar, Garrison & Christakis, 2006). In view of TV’s influence on children’s knowledge and skills, Verhoeven and Snow (2001) note that too much TV may deprive children of the time they would spend reading thereby adversely affecting their reading capabilities. In addition, the authors note that TV may displace other constructive activities that would increase children’s cognitive abilities. Along this line, some children may prefer to do their tasks such as homework while also watching television. However, there is evidence that doing so may inhibit the children’s response to difficult tasks, thereby lowering their performance (Verhoeven & Snow, 2001). Another argument against children’s watching of TV is that it lowers their agility (Thakkar, Garrison & Christakis, 2006). From the above viewpoints, it is noteworthy that the nature of TV programmes aired for children and the amount of time children devote to watching television are vital in determining the nature of impact that TV has on children’s knowledge and skills. This paper will review the influence of TV on children’s knowledge and skills with respect to how TV affects children’s cognitive abilities. The paper will therefore review the nature of educational programmes such as cartoons and other documentaries and how they affect children. With reference to this, the paper will also review the role of educators and parents in recruitment of teachers responsible for children TV education. Nature and effect of programmes aired on television The programmes aired on TV pose various numerous effects - both positive and negative, to children. This aspect of TV programmes should therefore be given utmost consideration when designing educational TV programmes for children. It is the nature of the programmes that determines the influence that the programmes’ contents have on children, skills, knowledge and general cognitive ability. Thus the programmes can either inculcate new beneficial skills and knowledge into children or cause negative shifts in their development. TV programmes and children’s cognitive abilities Most studies on the effect of television on children have focused on children’s cognitive ability in terms of differences in terms of their attention, inference and comprehension after watching certain programmes. The most probable questions in the various research studies have been whether TV mesmerizes children’s attention; whether it makes them passive or over-stimulates them; and whether TV promotes or wrecks children’s creativity and imagination. Along this line, a common opinion has been that when children watch particular TV programmes they enter some altered state of imagination and consciousness that significantly promotes their reasoning capability (Obrecht et al, 2001). In addition, the visual stimulus of TV graphics such as captivating screen pictures and movements bring children’s minds to new levels of thinking. Moreover, other features of TV programmes such as visual intricacy, zooming of pictures and so forth produce different reflexes in children, which ultimately affect their cognitive capacities (Rodger & Ziviani, 2006). Another important research finding is that active watching of television increases children’s level of comprehension. This is particularly true when the auditory or visual description of a given TV content hint to the minors that the TV programme is designed for the “benefit of children”. This makes children eager to know what the content is and therefore focus more attention to the programme. But the converse is true if the content of the programme does not reflect the needs of children or is full of distractions. According to Thakkar, Garrison and Christakis (2006), children’s attention to TV is usually fragmentary before they attain the age of two. As the children approach preschool years, their visual attention increases, and their major interest in TV visuals develops at the ages of between three and four years (Evra 2004). At later stages such as the age of eight and over, attention to TV visuals declines as the children are more accustomed to decoding the TV contents and their reasoning and comprehension pattern in view of TV starts resembling that of adults (Thakkar, Garrison & Christakis, 2006). These aspects are therefore inalienable when designing educational TV programmes for children. As is discussed in the following sections, watching TV improves children’s skills and knowledge in a multiplicity of ways. i) Learning The fact that children’s viewing of TV can help in gaining of general knowledge cannot be gainsaid. In view of this, Thakkar, Garrison and Christakis (2006) give an account of a study that was carried out to determine the impact of Plaza Sesamo, a Spanish version of a popular children’s programme known as Sesame Street in English. The study carried out in Mexico involved assigning 173 children randomly to watch cartoons, the educational Plaza Sesamo and other non-educational programmes. In the study, it was found that children who frequently watched Plaza Sesamo became more competent in answering general knowledge questions (Thakkar, Garrison & Christakis, 2006). Pecora, Murray and Wartella (2007) also carried out a research on the influence of Sesame Street on children aged three to five particularly with reference to their early learning skills. They found that children who frequently watched the programme significantly improved their level of English vocabulary including solving of riddles and matrices as compared to those who watched other programmes. In addition, the research revealed that the children’s improvement in various aspects due to watching Sesame Street was independent of their parents’ guidance and encouragement, or presence of the children’s elder siblings (Pecora, Murray & Wartella, 2007). The results of the two studies as aforementioned thus suggest that children gain significantly in terms of their cognitive ability by watching educational programmes designed for children. This can also be related to the point mentioned earlier that children pay more attention to TV programmes when they know that the programmes’ content is designed for the “benefit of children.” ii) Self-regulation Some TV programmes improve children’s ability to handle particular tasks as well as their ability to tolerate the tasks. For instance, many research activities comparing children’s behavioural regulation after watching entertainment versus educational programmes have shown that “neutral” programmes such as Mister Rogers increased delay tolerance among children whereas action movies such as Superman and Batman cause a decline in delay tolerance among children (Pecora, Murray & Wartella, 2007). Such findings show that the nature of activity in a given TV content affects the manner in which children perceive the programme- which is ultimately translated into their level of activity in different tasks. Along this line, Thakkar, Garrison and Christakis (2006) give an account of a research in which children who watched Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, an action movie, became efficient in their tasks by spending less time on any given task and frequently changing their tasks. If the findings are anything to go by, it means that programmes that have fast motion pictures and exhilarating scenes have the capacity to enhance children’s level of thinking. However, it may also be an implication that children’s level of tolerating a given task may be affected, which may ultimately lower the children’s performance in demanding tasks. iii) Imaginative Play There is plenty of evidence that television content can affect children’s imaginative play (Evra, 2004). This viewpoint is very important in the study of children’s behaviour particularly their skills and knowledge since psychologists regard imaginativeness during children’s play as an important factor in their cognitive development. In this respect, it is a well known phenomenon that children’s imaginativeness shapes their manner of interaction with the environment (Borman & Boulay, 2004). This means that TV programmes shape the way children interact with each other and other people. This has a significant impact on how children can solve group assignments; participate in discussions and other tasks that need a modicum of imagination and creativity. iv) Racial attitude TV programmes with a diversity of characters in terms of race encourage children in multiracial settings to cooperate in their educational and general activities. In view of this, a research was carried out on pre-school children in Canada in which inserts of non-white children playing with white children were used in various Sesame Street episodes (Pecora, Murray & Wartella, 2007). Some children were made to view the episodes with inserts while others (the control group) were made to watch episodes devoid of the inserts. After a considerable period of repeat watching, children in both groups were given photographs of white and non-white children and were asked to choose from among the pictures who they would like to play with. Children who had watched the episodes with inserts showed a higher probability of picking non-white friends as compared to those who watched pure episodes (Pecora, Murray & Wartella, 2007). The point here is that TV programmes with multiracial characters increase the tendency of children making friends with children of other races, thereby having a higher propensity to integrate knowledge and skills gained from the multiple interactions. Particular features of educational TV programmes Different TV programmes elicit different responses among children. Cartoons, entertainment programmes such as Superman and educational programmes such as Sesame Street and Super WHY! are designed to impact on different areas of children’s cognitive development (Hiatt-Michael, 2007). Some entertainment programmes that have exhilarating scenes have the effect of increasing children’s speed of action in tasks but may also lower the children’s tolerance on demanding tasks. Some cartoon programmes also increase children’s level of imaginative thinking, which is very vital for cognitive development. Nevertheless, some cartoons have been criticized for encouraging lousy behaviour among children (Hiatt-Michael, 2007). Educational programmes such as Sesame Street and Super WHY! have proved to be not only efficient in increasing children’s level of vocabulary but also increase the children’s desire to read and compete among themselves (Hiatt-Michael, 2007).This is because they entail use of numbers, letters, words, colours, shapes, and so on- all of which attract children’s attention. The desire by children to read and compete among themselves is an enviable attribute since it is through reading that children can enhance their skills in different areas of development as well as school work. Harmful effects of TV with respect to children’s knowledge and skills In spite of the many advantages of TV so far discussed, there are as many arguments that TV programmes interfere with children’s knowledge and skills. In particular, many authors such as Clifford, Gunter and McAleer (1995) have noted that when children watch TV for prolonged periods their level of imagination, thinking and intelligence becomes retarded. In the same perspective, Verhoeven and Snow (2001) describe three mechanisms through which TV poses inhibitory effects to children’s enhancement of knowledge and skills. The first point is that watching TV displaces much of a child’s reading time, thus hampering acquisition of reading skills. This is what the authors refer to as a quantitative displacement hypothesis. In particular, it implies that TV takes much of a child’s time that would be spent on leisure reading, which inarguably is very important for purposes of practice. In view of this, it is also likely that TV may displace other activities that are beneficial to a child’s cognitive development aside from reading. The second point is based on the fact that TV may displace reading and homework activities in a qualitative aspect. This is when for instance children choose to multitask by doing their work and watching TV contemporaneously. In view of this, the qualitative displacement hypothesis stresses that background TV may interfere with children’s performance in difficult or demanding tasks as they may fail to balance between watching TV and doing their work such as reading- which demands ample attention and devotion of the mind (Verhoeven & Snow, 2001). This implies that children may always turn to watching TV whenever they realize a difficulty in their assignment, which may eventually impact negatively on their performance. The third argument is that TV hinders development of children’s skills (particularly reading skills) by damaging their attitude towards reading –hence referred to as a reading-depreciation hypothesis (Verhoeven & Snow, 2001). For instance, children may develop an attitude of skipping any difficult word they come across in their process of reading. This behaviour may in turn be carried into other areas of learning in which children may skip arithmetic problems they perceive to be knotty. This in turn translates into the affected children’s frequent avoidance of any task that seems convoluted or which seeks to engage their brain a lot. With reference to the points so far discussed, it is imperative that educators and parents employ their thinking assiduously when recruiting teachers to guide children in TV-related subjects or activities as discussed in the following section. Role of educators and parents in the recruitment of teachers for children TV education Educators have to work hand-in-hand with parent-teacher associations to ensure that they recruit teachers who understand different children’s needs and therefore choose carefully the programmes that are suitable for the children to cater for the differences. Different TV education curricular put emphasis in different areas. While some curricular emphasize on proper management of viewing, others focus on educating children on the various techniques of TV as a mechanism of innovation against potential deleterious effects of watching particular contents of TV such as violence (Thomas, & Hiatt-Michael, 2001; Professor, Zuckerman & Professor, 2006). Educators and parents therefore need to embrace these ideas when recruiting teachers to facilitate in child TV education. Educators and parents thus have to evaluate the recruits’ ability to understand the various types of TV programmes such as news, game shows, documentaries, dramas, situation comedies and so on so that they understand the right materials such as DVDs and VCDs that they show children. In this context, the teachers have to understand the experience of writers, directors, producers and other parties involved in the production of the programmes in order to be guaranteed of the right materials for children’s needs. In addition, educators and parents have to ensure that the teachers can differentiate fantasy from reality when dealing with children and therefore be in a position to advice them accordingly. Moreover, teachers should be able to interpret the contents of TV features such as advertisements and help children understand them. The teachers to be recruited must also show flexibility and eagerness in moving with the changes in technology involving TV programmes. This is because today there are many educational programmes with very good presenters. It is therefore likely that children will have a tendency to compare their teachers with the TV presenters, unlike in the past when a teacher in a classroom would not be compared with any other person. Therefore, the teachers have to show that they are the best for the children- that is enthusiastic, stimulating, well organised, keen, firm but fair, and showing a lot of interest in children’s affairs (Wragg, 1993). Parents have an opportunity to assess new teachers’ performance by evaluating their children’s response to homework, that is, if the children show more interest in homework or use TV as a pretext to avoid difficult tasks (Hiatt-Michael, 2007). Conclusion This paper has reviewed various aspects of TV and how it affects children’s knowledge and skills. The benefits of TV include improvement in children’s learning abilities, imaginative thinking and creativity, and self-regulation among others- all of which are important aspects of cognitive development. Nevertheless, TV also deprives children of reading time and time for participation in other cognitive development activities, which may ultimately lower their knowledge and skills. In view of this, it has been discussed that educators and parents should keenly evaluate teachers in TV education to ensure that they show the right TV content to children and help them accordingly. References Borman, G. D. & Boulay, M. (2004). Summer learning: research, policies, and programs. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Clifford, B. R., Gunter, B. & McAleer, J. L. (1995). Television and children: program evaluation, comprehension, and impact. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Evra, J. P.V. (2004). Television and child development. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 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