Pull the Plug! - Television and Development

Television and Development

There is discussion concerning the theory that what is being watched is not as important, as the act of watching itself. In the book “Who’s bringing them up?” Martin Large describes television as being damaging to children’s development independent of content. He cites the following developmental effects; artificial light on children’s eyes, effects on the senses and brain, sleeplessness, headaches, bad dreams, perceptual disorders, poor concentration, hyperactivity, language development, and nervous problems.¹² A new study from Seattle Children’s’ Hospital and Regional Medical Center supports Large’s findings by showing that for every hour per day a toddler watches television they are 10% more likely to develop an attention disorder.¹³

Television and Behavior

One Canadian study observed the effects of when television was introduced into a no-TV community. Before television, the children of that community scored higher on reading tests, imagination and creativity than TV viewing children. After the introduction of television, the children fared only as well as their TV viewing comparison group. As well, their aggressive behaviour increased, beliefs about boys and girls’ performance became more stereotypical, and participation in community activities decreased. As for the adults, TV was found to decrease creativity and problem solving abilities.¹⁴

A study in Pediatrics involving 888 grade 2 and 3 students observed that along with increased television viewing there was an increased risk of; withdrawal, social problems, thought problems, attention issues, delinquent behaviour, and aggressive behaviour. It was also noted that the amount of television viewing was increased in children who are male, are older, and have social and academic issues.¹⁵ This predisposes a certain group of children to being more exposed to television, and are therefore at a greater risk of damage. Today’s average youth spends more time watching TV (1,023 hours) than at school (900 hours), and has seen 200,000 acts of violence by the age of 18.^16,17 What kind of impact can this have on children and can it impact adult behavior?

What about the Violence?

Research has shown that the emotional response to implied violence is actually greater than to actual scenes of violence.¹⁸ The implication of this for even G-rated movies is obvious. Could this be because today’s children are already desensitized to violence? Or does the mind, left to fill in the blanks for the implied violence, come up with more emotionally charged mental images?

One study attempted to analyze the desensitization of children and adults while watching TV violence. They found that children and adult males had a decreased emotional response with a violent program when previously exposed to a violent scene.¹⁹ This may indicate a protective mental response or it may mean that with each exposure to violence our emotional response is lessened. It is also important to assess whether or not exposure to TV violence has a prolonged effect into adulthood. In a 2003 study, children ages 6–10 were followed for a 15-year period and were assessed whether or not there was a relationship between viewing as a child and adult aggressive behaviour. The results clearly indicated, “childhood exposure to TV media violence predicts young adult aggressive behaviour”. It was also shown that those children who identified with the violent characters and who perceived TV violence as realistic, were more likely to be aggressive in adulthood.²⁰

An alternative perspective regarding television is not the possible behaviour it produces, but the behaviour that it does not produce. Just observe a child sitting in front of the television. What you will observe is a blank stare, with little blinking. If you gently try to get the attention of the child you may find that the child appears to have difficulty “coming out of ” the gaze. The vibrant, energetic and playful child is not found in a TV viewer. It seems as if the child is somehow subdued or inhibited. When observing adults viewing TV, the same behaviour is found. It is as if the thinking, feeling and interactive human is temporarily suspended; but gone where?