Children and TV

A question on many parents’ minds is: how will the influences our children have today affect how they make decisions tomorrow? By making sure I always know what the newest innovations and research is regarding my children and how they live, I always feel a little bit more confident.

One thing that interested me was an essay on babycenter.com about television usage. Experts say that television is something that, we, as parents need to meticulously watch when it comes to our children. This is where it becomes complicated as to when what is watched is too much and what types of media are bad for them.

Some argue that exposing a child to any television programming is harmful. If children are subjected to too much channel surfing rather than a specific program for a certain amount of time, then you could be making it hard for them to discern what is right and what is wrong. At times, it works out in their favor if the child watched a regularly scheduled program, once a day. This will help to keep children from believing that television is something that is or should be always present.

Many parents agree, however, that television should not replace real learning. Also, it shouldn’t interfere with family time, like meals. Television should not interrupt any time during the day when it’s not being watched. This can interfere with a child’s learning.

I came across a TV conversation with a woman named Nancy Salzman, who has former experience as a family therapist. She is now an executive coach with a company she co-founded with scientist Keith Raniere called Executive Success Programs. What struck me most about the interview was that she described that given that children have not fully developed logical thinking, it is difficult for them to figure out what is real and what is fantasy. It isn’t until they’ve developed absolute cognition that they can discern that what they’re seeing on TV is real or not. What we simply comprehend is real as adults, can be confusing for a child. It stands to reason parents should be very sensitive of what material we expose our children to and try to see how they might approach it through their child-like perspective.

In order for parents to raise their children correctly, this idea of limiting television should be used on other things in life. Violence is something that children can be too comfortable with if they are subjected to it too much. It’s not just television anymore that exists as a problem but things like video games that can introduce our children to reality forms of violence. If violence is something several kids are desensitized to and it ends up happening regularly, how do you think that effects in the world? Anything that has to do with violence would be something that our humankind would be used and sometimes even embrace.

To a better approach of this article please visit Executive Success Program by NXIVM or through Keith Raniere.