Pros And Cons Of Childhood Television viewing

Matter of debate in every household - television viewing especially by children. It is not unusual to find children glued to the television screen when they ought to be playing outdoors in the crisp and clear evening air. Parents have varying viewpoints regarding this issue.
One school of thought labels the television as an idiot box and abhors having children exposed to it. They insist that TV viewing is a very passive activity and does not require the child to use his mental faculties at all. Besides, it restricts physical activity and may stunt their physical growth not to mention the fact of dulling their intellectual capabilities.

Well, those who hold this opinion are not altogether wrong. They are in fact right on both counts. However peer pressure is one reality that needs to be taken into account here. The child interacts with several others in school and while at play. He has to take part in conversations that more often than not center around popular TV shows. Not being able to participate might give rise to an inferiority complex. So it is not advisable to ban the television altogether.
Some amount of involvement by parents is also a good idea. Maybe parents and the child can put their heads together and agree on certain shows. At times watching it with your child and enjoying it at his level might also be a good idea. A few good laughs are great for relieving stress.
A few parents feel that their children have every right to watch whatever they want on television for as long a time as they want to just because it is available. They want to give their children all that they could not have in their own childhood.
Stop and think - are you not spoiling your child? Would you feed him mangoes throughout the day just because he loves it? Certainly not. He would suffer from indigestion, wouldn’t he? Well, watching too much of TV would have a similar effect on the mind. As mentioned earlier, it would stunt physical growth and mental alertness.
Go ahead and indulge them, but within limits, or else you will be doing them a disservice. Weaning a child away from television is not an easy task. You will need to use all your ingenuity to make an alternative task more interesting and stimulating for him to willingly take it up. The best bet would be to encourage the child to take up an outdoor sport along with other children of his age.
Never use the television as a tool for keeping your child quiet when you have some important tasks to wade through. Spend some time with the child and gently guide him towards informative programmes. Sit through a few of them yourself. When he sees you preferring an informative program to ones that merely entertain, chances are that he will emulate you. Enhancing your general knowledge would not be a waste of time either.

It would also be a good idea to make news hour a family viewing time. This will automatically cultivate an interest in and an awareness of current affairs.
Television is here to stay. Whether we turn into the TV’s slaves and plan activities around TV schedules or we turn the TV into our slave to be at our beck and call to amuse, inform and hone certain skills, is totally in our hands. Television is going to have some impact on your lives and the secret of channelizing this impact in a beneficial way lies with you. So go ahead and take charge of both the television and its effect on your life.