- How television can harm your child…
- Causes eye problems
- Causes hearing problems
- Leads to aggressive behavior
- Increased chance of developing ADHD
- Increased chance of developing obesity
- Impairs emotional development
- Impairs language development
- Destroys social skills
- Destroys creativity and imagination
How to prevent these negative things from happening to your child…
First, make sure your child doesn’t have the TV volume high, don’t allow them to sit close to the TV, and discourage eating junk food while watching TV. It is very easy to do these few things and it quickly eliminates three negative side effects of TV watching.
Children absorb what they see and often copy it. Therefore, if your child is watching inappropriate shows, they may act inappropriately. They won’t understand that it is wrong, they will think what they see on TV is good and right. This is one reason you have to monitor or control what your child watches. You should also watch TV with your child to correct any bad behavior that is shown.
If your child is young have them watch educational shows like Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, Blue’s Clues or Barney. If you aren’t familiar with a cartoon then either don’t put it on or pay close attention to its rating. Nick Jr. is a great channel to allow your preschooler to watch because before every show it says what it teaches your child, such as counting, sharing, making music, exploring, etc.
Limit the amount of time your child watches TV. Tell your child they can watch TV for 2 hours or that they can watch 4 shows. Always enforce this time limit and when it is up tell them that they must play outside or do their homework. Make sure you play with your child a lot. Play with toys, go outside and play tag or throw a ball. Do crafts, color, dance, play pretend. All these activities are fun and also help your child’s development more than the television.