Television and Early Childhood Development - Research Paper Example

? Television and Early Childhood Development of Television and Early Childhood Development Television is a controversial issue when it comes to children sitting in front of it. Television is a source of entertainment and education for older children and adults, and it is also detrimental for children to sit for hours in front of it. For example, many children who sit in front of the television for hours at a time are more prone to childhood obesity (Shankaran et al., 2011). Another issue for children, who watch television regularly, can be a loss of cognitive functioning. This can create problems for children once they start school (Munasiba and Bhattacharyab, 2010). Television can also interrupt family time, stop children from reading, and stop them from getting needed exercise (Boyse, 2011). For busy parents, television can act as a way for children to be occupied and not under foot when parents are attempting to do other things at home. The challenge is that more children are spending time in front of television without much supervision (Boyse, 2011). In the category of children ages two to eleven, many children are watching television for 32 hours or more (McDonough, 2009). For the youngest children, their television viewing may include DVR or video (Boyse, 2011). The purpose of this research is to provide an analysis of television and how it effects child development in the earliest years of their experience. Early Childhood Development All children go through various stages of development and depending on their environment; they may have natural stages of development or something that interrupts their ability to develop. There are also basic things that children should know when they are growing that will later prepare them for school. Maggi, Irwin, Siddiqi, and Hertzman (2010) state that from infancy to school age, many things are developing in the young child. The brain is being molded and shaped by its environment and by what is termed “critical periods” (Maggi et al., 2010, p. 629). Critical periods are biological aspects of the brain that create the neuron-to-neuron development and the development of the cells and other areas of the brain that are necessary for a child to function as they develop. To aid in the development of the brain and other aspects of a child’s development, parents are encouraged to provide a stimulating environment for their child to learn. Children who grow up in an environment that is not stimulating, and not supportive, will have developmental delays (Maggi et al., 2010). Carter, Chard and Pool (2009) add that literacy begins in early childhood as children begin to understand their environment. Language also develops in the positive environment and children become actively engaged when parents are working with them to develop. The opportunities for learning language and culture is always within the child’s grasp and makes learning more meaningful to the child. Television is not part of the natural environment for children and can be detrimental to their health as they grow older. How Television Effects Early Childhood Development To understand television’s effect on children, one must first look at the path that has been created by television since its inception. When television first began in the late 1950s and early 1960s people were excited about the invention. Families gathered around the television set to watch specific shows that were available. Television became the major element of entertainment for children and this took away from reading and finding something else to do (Livingstone, 2009). Television also become more interesting than going out of the home to a movie or socializing with other people; at this time the average family was spending about two hours In front of the television per day (Livingstone, 2009). Mothers found that they could attend to other things in the home while children we watching programs they enjoyed. Today, children spend more time in front of the television than they used to and families do not necessarily sit and watch television together. With the availability of laptops, tablets and other devices, children and adults have more access to television than ever before, and cable provides enhanced viewing. The challenge for parents is how to balance television watching with other activities so that a child is well-rounded in their development. An issue of concern for children, who watch television for long periods of time, is cognitive development. Although many parents believe that having their children watch educational programs and videos will help them learn and be prepared for preschool or kindergarten, this may not be true. Courage and Howe (2010) state that in order to get the most from television, people watching must have the skills to understand what they see and separate reality from what is not real. Generally, children do not have this ability. Courage and Howe also state research where it was found that young children learn more from other people than from television, because people are interactive and the child can receive immediate feedback from their actions. Courage and Setliff (2010) state that one of the problems for young children watching television is that they can develop problems with attention. Many children may acquire Attention Deficit Disorder with or without hyperactivity and may distract younger children by interfering with their processing of information. Cognitive development can in a sense be limited when a child spends too much time in front of the television. The television is difficult for children to understand and decide what is real or what is not. Television Watching and Aggression Television has been blamed for aggression, hyperactivity, and other negative behaviors. The studies that have been done do not always reflect that television is to blame. Young children seem to be more susceptible for television watching. Manganello and Taylor (2009) studied three year old children who watched television over five hours per day, and found that they were prone to aggressive behavior after watching television. This risk increased if the mother was depressed or the neighborhood was more prone to violence. Children are more prone to internalize the violence they see than to understand what is really happening. Daly and Perez (2009) researched the level of play that preschool children took part in after watching television programs, although in the study children watched cartoons. The children studied were more often aggressive in hitting or shoving children when they wanted a particular item from that child. Daly and Perez also found that boys were more aggressive than boys when exposed to violence. The authors also suggest that this reaction can happen because children do not have the cognitive maturity to be able to understand what is happening in the violence on television; this may cause a traumatic stress that continues with them after watching. This traumatic stress could be the cause of the child’s reaction to the violence, which creates the aggression. Martins and Wilson (2012) studied 500 children and the content that they watched on television. Their study brought surprising results that are contrary to what Daly and Perez (2009) found. The Martins and Wilson study found that in the classroom, girls were more socially aggressive than girls when they had watched social aggression on the television. Social aggression is a more subtle form of aggression towards others because it can take the form of direct or indirect aggression. Both types of aggression (direct or indirect) has as its target the “self-esteem or social standing” (Martins and Wilson, 2012, p. 49) of the individual that is targeted. This type of aggression was possibly because of situations that happened in the home environment or what children saw on television programs. In the age group of 2-11, the children who were participants were allowed to watch shows like American Idol, Survivor, and The Suite Life of Zack (Martins and Wilson, 2012, p. 50) and each had some form of social aggression in it. Again, the age of the child may influence the way that television is interpreted and whether it helps or hinders their early development. Television Watching and Intelligence Television watching has been linked to problems with cognitive functioning and with a child’s learning. Hickman (2010) provides information on a study two year olds who watched five or eight hours of television per day. The study started when the children were two and ended when the children were ten years old. The study quoted found that the more television children were exposed to, the lower their math scores and the lower their engagement in the classroom. Barr, Lauricella, Zack, and Calvert (2010) studied the issue of children who were exposed to adult programming when they were young children. The children were between the ages of one and four for the study. The researchers showed that exposure to television has an effect on children in this age group so parents must be careful of what they allow children to watch. As an example, the researchers point out that television programs like Dora the Explorer increase language development, while programs like Teletubbies provide poorer language development. On the other hand, children exposed to adult-directed programming there may be a disruption in their early attention focus, their playing with toys, and their interaction with their parents (Lauricella, Zack & Calvert, 2010). Kirkorian, Pempek, Murphy, Schmidt, and Anderson (2009) studied the effects of television on the interaction between children and their parents. The study was interesting because the authors played television in the background in the participant’s homes for several hours. Most of the families participating in this study stated in the beginning that their television was usually on all the time. The researchers thought that the background noise would be distracting to children as they played. They also hypothesized that the interaction between parents and children would be interrupted because of the television programs. The television programs used were adult-centered. Kirkorian et al. (2009) found that the television noise in the background stopped the verbal interaction between the parents and their children because it stopped verbal processing for the parents. Also, parents were less likely to pay attention to their children’s attempts at gaining attention when the television was on. When Kirkorian et al. observed the children in the study; they found that the social interaction of the children was lessened because of the television and lower interaction from the parents. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2011) found that whether television is detrimental or helpful to a child’s learning has more to do with the age of the child and their cognitive abilities than other factors. As an example, the organization found that children who are two years old and older can benefit from watching television programs geared to child programming. These children are usually ready for school, have stronger language and social skills than children who do not watch television. Children who are younger than two years old may not have the cognitive ability to grasp what they are seeing on television, which to the American Academy of Pediatrics says that they are not able to learn from watching television. Another issue for children and learning from television is that they cannot distinguish between what they see on television and a live person. As children get older, they are better able to discern the difference (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2011). Krcmar (2011) tested infants who had been exposed to Baby Einstein DVDs to understand their language acquisition. These DVDs were edited to include low-frequency words that would be easier for children to understand. The authors also tested babies in an environment where they were able to learn words in a face to face environment. The results of the study found that infants learned more from the live situation than they did from the video. Also, some children were more actively watching the video but they did not learn more than those who did not watch the video. These two studies seem to specifically show that learning from television does have something to do with the age of the child. Conclusion Early childhood development may be influenced by television. Apparent in the research is the issue that the age of the child can decide how television watching influences the child, along with environmental factors. The cognitive, emotional, and physical development can be challenged by television watching whether the child is directly watching the television, or when it is playing in the background. Children can learn aggression from not only adult television shows, but also from children’s programs. Depending on the age of the child, this aggression can be seen more in girls than boys. Girls have a tendency to engage more in social aggression, while boys seem to use physical aggression more. Whether intelligence is affected by television also depends on the age of the child. The younger the child, the stronger the influence may have on the child’s intelligence. The issue of whether television has an effect on children and their learning is still under investigation. References American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011). Media use by children younger than 2 years. Pediatrics 128(5), 1040-1045). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2011-1753 Barr, R., Lauricella, A., Zack, E., & Calvert, S. L. (2010). Infant and early childhood exposure to adult-directed and child-directed television programming. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 56(1), 21-48. Boyse, K. (2011). Television and children. University of Michigan Health Systems, Retrieved from http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm Carter, D. R., Chard, D. J., & Pool, J. L. (2009). A family strengths approach to early language and literacy development. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(6), 519-526. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10643-009-0312-5 Courage, M. L., and Howe, M. L. (2010). To watch or not to watch: Infants and toddlers in a brave new electronic world. Developmental Review, 30(2), 101-115. DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2010.03.002 Courage, M. L., and Setliff, A. E. (2010). When babies watch television: Attention-getting, attention-holding, and the implications for learning from video material. Developmental Review, 30(2), 220-238. DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2010.03.003 Daly, L. A., & Perez, L. M. (2009). Exposure to media violence and other correlates of aggressive behavior in preschool children. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 11(2), 1-13. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ868537 Hickman, M. (2010, May 3). Watching TV 'makes toddlers less intelligent'. The Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/watching-tv-makes-toddlers-less-intelligent-1960856.html Kirkorian, H., Pempek, T., Murphy, L., Schmidt, M., & Anderson, D. (2009). The impact of background television on parent-child interaction. Child Development, 80(5), 1350-1359. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01337.x Krcmar, M. (2011). Word learning in very young children from infant-directed DVDs. Journal Of Communication, 61(4), 780-794. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01561.x Livingstone, S.(2009). Half a century of television in the lives of our children. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 625, 151-163. DOI: 10.1177/0002716209338572 Maggi, S., Irwin, L., Siddiqi, A., & Hertzman, C. (2010). The social determinants of early child development: an overview. Journal Of Paediatrics And Child Health, 46(11), 627-635. DOI:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2010.01817.x Manganello, J., & Taylor, C. (2009). Television exposure as a risk factor for aggressive behavior among 3-year-old children. Archives Of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 163(11), 1037-1045. DOI:http://dx.doi.org.dml.regis.edu/10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.193 Martins, N., & Wilson, B. J. (2012). Social aggression on television and its relationship to children's aggression in the classroom. Human Communication Research, 38(1), 48-71. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2011.01417.x McDonough, P. (2009). TV Viewing among kids at an eight year high. Neilsen Newswire. Blog. Retrieved from http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2009/tv-viewing-among-kids-at-an-eight-year-high.html Munasiba, A., and Bhattacharyab, S. (20I0). Is the ‘Idiot's Box’ raising idiocy? Early and middle childhood television watching and child cognitive outcome. Economics of Education Review, 29(5), 873-883. DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2010.03.005 Shankaran, S., Bann, C., Das, A., Lester, B., Bada, H., Bauer, C. R., . . . Higgins, R. D. (2011). Risk for obesity in adolescence starts in early childhood. Journal of Perinatology, 31(11), 711-6. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/jp.2011.14 Read More