The Relationship Between Attention And Child Television Programs

Ever since its invention, television has found its way into every child’s bedroom. It is simple yet powerful and has become an essential part of every household, entertaining children of all ages with the various animated programs it offers. However, the amount of time a child spends fixed in front of a television screen is incredible. In fact, children under the age of 11 spend more than 28 hours a week fixed in front of their television screens (Boyse).It is important to consider the quality of television shows because no one can deny the fact that children have become addicted to them. Children are subject to a plethora of cartoons that range from entertaining to educational. These programs invite

Technology throughout the past 30-40 years has become more advanced and accessible than ever. The television specifically has developed extremely since its beginning. What started off as a single camera caption, has developed into a full fledge worldwide availability. Within the United States, the TV is a normal everyday object common in households, hotels, schools, and even restaurants. There are approximately 118.4 million household in the United States that own a television set ( The Number of TV Households in the United States from season 2000-2001 to season 2016-2017 (in millions)).However, the increased amount of time spent watching TV has had a tremendous impact on people, especially kids. The differences in generations throughout the development of the TV has led to many questions, all revolving around whether or not the televisions has had a good or negative impact pertaining to children. Time spent watching television affects the brain, ability to learn, and skill levels in different areas (source. In the book “Last Child in The Woods,” Richard Louv discusses how children in the 1940’s would watch out the window at the scenery and have conversations, while children now sit and watch a movie on a flip-down video screen without knowledge to the outside world (Louv 16-17).

More than a decade has passed, since the beginning of academic research in regards to the impact of TV series on small children’s development. Evidences collected since that time entail limited educational or cognitive benefits of commercial TV animated series for young children, especially when comparing to the information they might learn from live, social interactions (Vaala, 2014). In spite of this fact, most American toddlers and infants do spend time watching animated educational TV series with the statistics indicating approximately 60-80 minutes of daily viewing for the average child (Rideout, 2013). At the time when international viewing rates are not yet available, estimates that exist now bring forth that children’s TV-viewing time is increasing (Vaala & Hornik, 2014). For these reasons, coupled with the questions laid down in the paper, I watched one episode each of Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, and The Simpsons.

During the 20th century, the literacy rate in America has begun to fall at an alarming rate. A factor contributing to the problems in the literacy rate includes children’s exposure to television which has resulted in a shortened attention span during other activities. Today, children are less active because of technology such as television and video gaming and, as a result more children are suffering from obesity.

In a 2011 study conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia, it was found that watching just nine minutes of SpongeBob Square Pants can have negative effects on the learning ability of young children. The assertion made by this study was nothing new. The effects of television and media have been a point of much discussion and study among psychologists, paediatricians, educators and policymakers. However, the significance of this study in particular was that it focused on the effects of one cartoon in particular, SpongeBob SquarePants (Hutchson, C. and Unit, A 2017). As a wildly popular and much loved children’s cartoon television show, the findings of this study became a matter of great debate. The study was criticized on various grounds and its findings challenged, however, it remains difficult for critics of the conclusions drawn from this study to rebut the vast array of findings reported in similar studies which claim that fast-paced cartoon shows such as SpongeBob Squarepants, have found to have detrimental effects on the ability of young children to learn (Rabin, 2017). As such, the findings of this study hold great persuasive value (Shute, 2017). Fast-paced shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants can hamper the ability of young children to learn and develop.

In recent years children have spent more time in front of screens. Some parents view this as a problem for development of their kids, while others see no problem. With the use of educational shows for children, kids are learning in a fun way.

     Television viewing is a major activity and influences children and adolescents. Children in the United States watch on average 3 – 4 hours of television a day (AACAP, March 2001).  By the time they graduate they will have spent more time watching television than they spent in the classroom.  Television may entertain, inform, and keep them company, but it may also influence them in undesirable ways. There are important activities that children could be doing like reading, school work, playing, exercise, interaction with

“Television has changed the American child from an irresistable force to an immovable object.” (Peter). There was a time when all children wanted to do was to run, play, explore, and be adventurous. As time evolved, children have found more interest in television. Statistics show that a child spends 900 hours per year in school,and they spend 1,200 hours per year watching television. When asked to choose between watching T.V. and spending time with their families fifty-four percent of four to six year olds voted they would prefer to watch television. Television has changed the mindset of children over the years it has been proven that the more programs they watch, the more harmful it is to their brain development. T.V. shows that are too mature for a child will cause the child to act out at a younger age. The more violent shows that a child views will cause the kid to have more violent tendencies. Statistics show that children who watch educational programs accelerate at a faster rate with learning than children who watch television just for entertainment. Children should not watch more television than recommended by physicians. The first two years of a child’s life is considered a critical time for brain development. Too much television gets in the way of a child’s social, physical,and mental development. Parents should monitor the amount of time their child spends watching television and the shows they watch.

Some previous studies have suggested a longitudinal association between attention problems and early television viewing. However, Lillard and Peterson’s famous study has provided us an explanation of the relationship between the different types of television shows and young children’s executive function. They predicted the possibility of shot-term negative effects of television watching coming from its long-term impact on attention focusing even for adults. In addition, they noticed that the fast-paced shows seem to insert a stronger negative impact on either children or adults by “capturing attention in a bottom-up fashion.” (P2, middle left) Thus, they formed a hypothesis saying that compared to a slower-paced educational cartoon or self-paced activity such as drawing, a fast-paced cartoon show would have a more negative impact immediately on children’s executive functioning, a strong assessment associated with success in school. (P2, bottom left)

In a study by Iman Sharif and James D. Sargent, 4508 students participated to find out whether or not certain television content affected the grades of young children. In many analyses they found that,

As humans, we learn to adapt in order to survive. With technology being everywhere in our modernized society, we have adapted by incorporating it into our everyday lives, including television. Over 90% of homes today own at least one TV. On average, children (8 months to 8 years of age) in the US are being exposed to 4 hours of television per day (Hamel and Rideout). What does this mean for the development of children? Instead of pushing away our TV’s because of distractions, we can use them to educate the next generation. While books have always been the base for learning for many centuries, times are changing. We live in a new era where everything demands a higher level of expertise. Kids these days need a better education in order gain the necessary skills to succeed later in life. Television has the ability to promote early learning and development in children. By introducing education earlier, through the use of television programs, kids will voluntarily engage themselves in learning without even realizing it. Educational programs and TV shows expose children to language outside of their home, overall improving their understanding of language and actions associated with it. Instead of throwing our technology to the side and sticking to the old fashion books, we should be integrating new forms of education with the changing times. TVs allow children to actively learn verbally and visually, making it more effective than any book. By altering programs to expose children

The use of electronic devices such as television, computers, tablets, cell phones, and video games has become the main feature of recreational activity for the youth. And considering the heavy use of such devices by children and adolescents these days, it is worth exploring psychological effects of such devices. It is beyond the scope of this paper to look at the effects of all these devices, so the subject of this inquiry is only the effects of TV viewing. Based on recent psychological studies of the impact of TV viewing on cognitive performance, it may be argued that non-educational TV programs negatively affect cognitive performance skills of TV viewers, while educational programs affect viewers positively. This is especially the case with regard to children and adolescents since they are at the age where their cognitive performance abilities are growing fast.

Nearly every household has access to television programming. With the variety of programs available children are exposed to many factors concerning choice. These choices can lead to a wide array of results depending on the type of content which is viewed. Positive programming can promote the learning of valuable skills and knowledge to enable success in life, while negative programming may have diverse opposite effects. The contents of television programming affect the health, behaviors and learned life skills in children. First, a discussion of physical health concerns.

INtroDucTioN:Cartoons have been a staple of childhood development since the early 20th century. Two thirds of infants and toddlers watch an average of two hours of television a day, according to a recent study. While watching cartoons, a child's brain processes graphic images, educational information and violent acts. These brain-stimulating factors have both positive and negative effects on children's development. Cartoons are the most frequent and easily accessible source of entertainment which we provide to our children. With the vastness of media and extension of channels, it has become easier for children to watch their favorite cartoons on a single click and at the same time it has become more

In a news article written by Alia Bibi & Roshan Zehra (2012), “Effects of Cartoons on children’s psychology and behavioural patterns”, said that with the limitlessness of media and extension of channels, it has become easier for children to watch their favourite cartoons on a single click and at the same time it has become more convenient for parents to provide children with this all-time favourite activity of theirs. Time which was previously spent by children