ISTOCK
SupervisionNeeded
MakhesaLucyBorotho
A43-year-oldpublicrelationsofficerattheMinistryofPublicServiceinLesotho
Televisionisoneofthemostpopularformsofmediainmostpartsoftheworld.Likeallotherformsofmedia,itcanpositivelyornegativelyaffecttheconsumer.Forthisreason,medialiteracyisvitallyimportantandneedstobetakenintoconsideration.Sinceexperienceisagoodteacher,mostparentsusetheirownexperiencestoselectthemostappropriateviewingfortheirchildren.
Ithinktelevisioncanbeeithereffectiveorineffective.Effectiveinawaythattherearechildren鈥檚programsthataremoreeducational,evenbetterthanbooks,becausechildrenbelieveinwhattheysee.Childrencanlearnsuchthingsassimplemathematics,English,sportsandculturethroughcartoonsforentertainmentonTV.Mostprogramsareratedsuitableorunsuitableforchildren,anditistheresponsibilityofparentstomakesurethatchildrenareonlyexposedtoprogramsspecificallyproducedfortheirconsumption.Ontheotherhand,TVcanbedestructiveasitisdifficultforsomechildrentoeveneatwithoutwatchingTV,andmanychildrendonotdotheirhomeworkbecausetheyarethinkingaboutwhat鈥檚onTV.Thissimplymeansthattelevisioncanbeaddictive.Itstealstimefromactivitiesthatactuallydevelopthechild鈥檚brain,likeplayingandinteractingwithotherchildren,whichiswherelearningandlanguageacquisitiontakesplace.
Inaddition,programsthatcontainstronglanguageandviolencecaninfluencethebehaviorofchildren,astheycantendtobeaggressiveafterviewingsuchshows.Youngchildrenlearnthroughimitation.Asaresult,theyliketoimitateTVactionstarsunawareofthedamagingeffects.Youngmindsarenotalwaysabletodistinguishbetweenwhatisgoodandwhatisbad.
IstronglysupportTVviewingforchildrendevelopment,butwithstrictadultsupervision.
Ithinktelevisioncanbeeithereffectiveorineffective.Effectiveinawaythattherearechildren鈥檚programsthataremoreeducational,evenbetterthanbooks,becausechildrenbelieveinwhattheysee.
LessTV,MoreReading
LiuMian
A34-year-oldnetworkengineerinBeijing
Iagreethattelevisionisawayforchildrentobeentertainedandrelax.Butitisneitheraneffectivewaytonurturethemindsofchildrennorusefulineducationalpurposesonitsown.
Today,mostoftheTVprogramsarejammedwithrealityshowsandsoapoperas.ChildrencangainnothingfromsittinginfrontofaTVfortwoorthreehoursperday.It鈥檚justawasteoftime.Theonlythingtheyprobablycanrememberafterwatchingaprogramisonlythenamesofthestars.Whilesomemayarguethatwatchingeducationalprogramsisbeneficialforchildren,Ithinktheycangetthesameknowledgefromreadingbooks.
Meanwhile,TVdoesnotprovideenoughtwo-wayinteractionforchildren.Itdoesnotofferenoughopportunityforachildtodeveloppropersocialskills,speechfunctionorabilityofcriticalthinking.Also,watchingtelevisionforlonghourscandamagechildren鈥檚eyesandcontributetoobesity.
LookingatthecurrentTVcontent,thereisahostofadvertisingshown,someofittargetingyoungchildren.Childrenatayoungageareeasilyattractedbyadvertisements.Sincetheirsetofcorevaluesarenotyetestablished,theycannotalwaysdistinguishbetweenrightandwrong.Therefore,advertisementsmayleadtochildren鈥檚misunderstandingandentrenchwrongvalues.
Forexample,watchingtheadvertisementofamilkbrand,achildissurprisedattheamazingeffectithasontheboy,whogrowsrapidlyanddevelopsastrongbodyafterdrinkingtheproduct.Misledbytheexaggeratedeffects,thechildmaystarttodrinkalotofmilkandabandonotheractivitiessuchasphysicalexerciseoreatingabalanceddiet,whichisdefinitelynothealthy.Therefore,insteadofwatchingTVtodeveloptheirminds,Iwouldrathertheyreadmorebooksandtakepartinsocialactivities.
TVdoesnotprovideenoughtwo-wayinteractionforchildren.Itdoesnotofferenoughopportunityforachildtodeveloppropersocialskills,speechfunctionorabilityofcriticalthinking.