It is a matter of grave concern that
television has badly invaded our living rooms. Children are the ones who are the worst
affected. Concern about the effects of
television on children has centered exclusively upon the contents of the
programmes which they watch. Social contacts are limited whence they just watch television when sitting in front of the screen rather than having any contact with others. The behavior of children certainly takes a sea change while watching programmes intriguingly following and understanding them.
Parents are deeply troubled the world over about the effects of T V upon their children. They have centered their concern on the subject matter of the programmes. ACT (Action for children’s Television)USA, has rightly invoked to reduce the amount of violence in programmes but also to protest against incessant commercial breaks which encourages children to crave for fashionable toys and unhealthy foods besides forcing their parents into hectic buying spree. They have also asked if parents have the rights to ask why not the programmes be aimed at the young should meet the specific needs of the children? But seriously is it the needs of the children which are at stake when parents demand better ones. Surely the fact that young children watch too much television reflects the needs of parents to find a convenient source of amusement for their offspring and a period of quiet for themselves. Their anxieties about possible ill effects of those hours of passive quite viewing are lessened if the time spent at least seems to be educational.
Perhaps there are a number of fallacies that have misled parents into thinking that the problem of television will be solved by improving its quality. It is suggested, for example that a youngster unfamiliar with TV programmes will find making friends difficult and will be labeled as an outsider. On the other hand other children will unusually respect their independence and recognize – even envy – the richness of their alternative activities. More subtle is the mistaken belief that the experience that children gain from watching television is the same as the adults watching television, their own past and present experiences come into play. They assume that they will acquire knowledge at a much younger age. But young children have very few real life experiences to set against their viewing. So parental fear is uncalled for as for them TV is the primary source of experience; their formative years are spent largely in an unreal, unnatural, second-hand world.
It is also universally acknowledged that TV is an important source of info-entertainment as well as a source of learning. Like an animated picture book it presents in an easy to digest format. In an entertaining way it presents a great deal of information about countries, natural world, history, current affairs and so on. But knowledge of today’s television – educated children is far ahead from their mentors. It is for the children to use their minds, power of application and their bodies and their imaginative and reasoning power to enrich their lives.