Focus on Education Your child and the TV monster

By the time the average child graduates from high school, he will have spent some 15,000 hours watching television! That’s more than doing anything else except sleeping. During those 15,000 hours, he will have been exposed to 350,000 commercials and watched 18,000 murders! And some people have the stupidity to say that television has little influence on the minds of its viewers.

Like smoking or any other addiction, television consumes not only our time but can cripple our ability to think if we are not careful. It has become a tremendous force in our lives. While we are careful to feed our children nutritious food for their body, we sometimes sadly neglect the junk food we allow them to absorb mentally.

All research done on the amount of time spent in front of the television proves without a doubt, television does have either a very negative or a very positive effect. Therefore we as parents should understand some of the good and bad points not only for our children’s sake but for ourselves as well. This is not to state that television is bad. In fact, it is a great learning and entertainment instrument when viewed properly.

Used improperly, television can influence your child to want and buy things that are not good for him, or for which he has no genuine need. It can become an escape from reality. It can become a substitute for companionship and active play–inhibiting creativity and growth. It can cause a child to have an unrealistic view of the world. It can also show the seamy side of life with its deviate style of behavior.

Used properly, TV can be beneficial by bringing the family together. The proper programs can stimulate conversation between family members. A child can use TV to relax and “unwind.” Good programs provide wholesome entertainment. It can expose a child to new information, ideas, and perspectives. Used wisely, TV can expand a child’s perception of the world. And it can also show the grandeur and beauty of the world.

As parents it is one of our responsibilities to monitor TV watching by our children. Because television is such a pervasive force in our lives, we have to find a happy balance between excessive and non-excessive viewing and what are considered beneficial and non-beneficial programs.

Together you and your children can make TV watching purposeful by sitting down with the program guide and deciding together which programs are worth watching. Set the limits together. Consider these questions as guidelines for worthwhile viewing.

Is the program either interesting or entertaining for the proper age of the child and values that the family adheres to? Can the child understand the story line and its theme? Does the program show a clear difference between right and wrong, and does it teach worthwhile values? Will be it frightening, show atrocious scenes, in bad taste, display nudity, use obscene language, and any other offensive conduct that you prefer your child not to view? Does it make a clear distinction between reality and fantasy?

If you are a TV addict yourself, you will have to become a model for them because your attitude towards TV will determine theirs. It is estimated that we obtain 85% of our knowledge of the world from sight. The right viewing will result in the right view of life. With your guidance your child can become discerning about TV viewing. Just as we would not feed junk food to our children, why do we allow junk entertainment to be fed to them knowing the harm it does? Television doesn’t have to be a monster in the home.