Telechildren: Where Television and Children Intersect

Television in society has evolved from non-existent just over a century ago to an integral part of our society.  In fact, the average American child watches about four hours of television a day. Due to this high amount of time spent in front of the TV, there are thousands of studies examining the affects of television on children, with many different conclusions.

It is difficult to discern between preconceived notions, expert opinions, and scholarly research in this area. A cursory search of the web shows a wide variety of responses, with an immense amount of conflicting statistics, studies, opinions and advice. Studies try and explain how televisions affect children’s aggression, sleep patterns, health, relationships, performance in school, etc.

With so many sources already addressing this subject, how can this blog possibly further this massive discussion?  This blog is focused on examining the literature already produced on the subject, aimed at sifting through myths and misinformation.  The information behind the posts is derived from actual scholarly studies and experts in the field instead of parental opinions, mom-and-pap websites, and one-sided news articles.

Our posts on this blog discuss specific subjects on the broader topic of television. For example, one blog discusses how television in children’s bedrooms disturbs their sleep patterns. Another post discusses how kid’s TV programs focused on learning outcomes actually educate children. Another post discusses how television has become a scapegoat to blame for adolescence obesity, and that in fact studies have shown there is very little correlation between the two. As authors of these posts, we invite you to contribute to the conversation of how television affects children, positively and negatively.

Telestudents: Children in the Teleclassroom

Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, Arthur, Wishbone...many young adults today claim that these television shows sparked their excitement about reading when they were children. These PBS children's television programs, popular during the 1990s, emphasized the value of reading in many ways: teaching spelling and vocabulary, portraying characters that frequently visited the library, displaying child-friendly outlines of classic novels, and providing encouraging messages about learning to read. While many children's programs do not foster learning skills, educational television programs designed for encouraging literacy in children positively influence the development of reading skills.

 Curiosity toward the influence of educational television programs on children has lead to research revealing positive learning outcomes in literacy skills. Studies have shown that educational PBS programs positively influenced reading skills in preschoolers and enriched literacy development (Penuel, William R., et al. 124-125). Another study showed that Sesame Street fostered vocabulary skills in young children, unlike other non-educational children's programs (Rice, Mabel L., et al. 426). These studies indicate that television programs designed for a specific learning outcome can successfully enrich children's skill development.

The positive results of educational television programs on children's learning causes many to wonder, why the panic about children watching television? Children only benefit from programs aimed at a specific learning outcome; other programs designed merely to entertain children do not increase children's learning opportunities (Rice, Mabel L., et al. 426). Television can be fun and educational for children, but those television programs must be designed with positive learning goals.

Sources:

GerbilGod7. "Mister Rogers defending PBS to the US Senate." You Tube. BotJunkie, 29 June 2007. Web. 7 November 2012.

Penuel, William R., et al. "Supplementing Literacy Instruction with a Media-Rich Intervention: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial." Early Childhood Research Quarterly 27.1 (2012): 115-27. Print.

Rice, Mabel L., et al. "Words from 'Sesame Street': Learning Vocabulary While Viewing." Developmental Psychology 26.3 (1990): 421-8. Print.

Is the Telly Keeping Your Child Up?

It might help them fall asleep easier, and I could sure use the break at night,” is an excuse often used by parents when talking about turning on the television for their little ones at bedtime.While it is easier than reading a bedtime story, studies have shown that it is actually counterproductive. Dennis Rosen, M.D, a pediatric pulmonologist and sleep specialist, said on www.psychologytoday.com, “The noise, the light, the content: all of these likely play a role in disrupting the ability to fall and to stay asleep.” Although many doctors and specialists suggest not letting children have televisions in their bedroom, the rates of that advice being discarded are rising. A recent study showed that 70% of third graders did have a TV in their bedroom (www.nytimes.com)- that is more than two-thirds!

Among many of the mental and physical problems that do accompany having a bedroom TV, sleeping disorders and daytime tiredness are towards the top of the list.Being unusually tired throughout the day will also have a negative impact on the child’s ability to carry out and perform daily activities and schoolwork. Seattle Children’s published a study where they found that children were more likely to have trouble falling asleep, have more nightmares, and more awakenings if in the 1 hour prior to going to bed, they watched TV in their bedroom (www.seattlechildrens.org). So despite the parents’ effort to have a more peaceful tuck-in, they are actually setting themselves up for a long, disrupted night’s sleep. If children have a TV in their bedroom it could greatly increase the amount of time it takes for them to fall asleep,which will inevitably lead to them getting out of their bed multiple times before they actually go to bed. A simple solution to decreasing these complications is to eliminate the televisions in the bedrooms, and instead try singing a lullaby or reading a fairytale to wind down for the night.

Start this following video at 1:27:

 FHPublishing. "Television and Childhood Obesity." YouTube. SuperSizedKids, 21 Aug. 2008. Web. 6 Nov. 2012.

Are Telechildren Getting Tubby?

This essentially explains how people have consumed food over time. There is incredibly strong evidence that caloric intake, not television, is related to obesity. Actual scientific studies put television at the bottom of the list of causes of obesity, if at all. In contrast, searching for what most people say via Youtube and Google gives results that society blames TV and often puts it at the top of the list. Click here for an example of a video that blames childhood obesity on television. Click here for the source of the above graph and where the table was derived.

Do American children become obese from watching television? The Internet and health classes are full of claims that watching television causes adolescence obesity. Yet upon examining the multitude of studies conducted in this area, the results may be surprising: television is not to blame for the adolescent obesity epidemic.

Almost all studies show that television viewing does not cause adolescence obesity. The International Journal of Obesity states that the correlation between watching television and obesity is, "too small to be of substantial clinical relevance." The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics found, in an in-depth study, that there was no correlation between body composition and television viewing behavior. Again, the Journal of Adolescence states, "Studies examining the relationship between television viewing and obesity in children and adolescents have consistently found weak, if any, associations between the two phenomena." Statistically speaking, the very weak correlation between body fat levels and television means that it is essentially impossible to prove that watching television causes obesity.

There are many other factors that are strongly correlated to obesity, and should receive the blame.  The International Journal for Obesity suggests that the data indicates that television is "unfairly implicated" as a cause of obesity. Rather, there are clearly other factors that statistically and clinically strongly correlate to childhood obesity, such as depression, lack of exercise, high caloric intake, and quality of food.

Television is not the cause of adolescence obesity, but this does not mean all Americans should advocate more television viewing time. Yet it is important to understand that TV is not the root cause of childrens' rising obesity levels, so that the real causes can be understood and changes made. Clearly, television should not receive the blame for causing adolescent obesity.