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Andrew Balasko
Brenneman
College Writing II
27 April 2015
The Digital Effect
Television is now one of the biggest influences in our lives today and it will keep
growing as time goes on. Television has grown into one of the biggest influences in the world
today and things have changed to where people could not spend a day without getting in front of
a television screen. Watching television has been linked to benefits and also detriments to sitting
in front of one. There can be mental and physical harm linked to something simple as just
watching a favorite show. Watching television at a growing age has severe negatives and alters
how your thought process, physical being and habits are as you are growing and by the time one
gets to an older age. There is a bunch of negatives that can come from watching television and
most harm people in many ways. Television has a huge negative impact and one of the biggest
concerns coming from too much television is regarding the amount of television watched at a
growing age. Television can harm big things in a child’s life like a negative outcome in the
classroom, a growing rate in obesity, violent and aggressive behavior from the viewer and
altering the hours of sleep per night.
When viewing television almost all are just sitting down relaxing and doing nothing.
Education is very important here in America and by watching television too much it can take
study time away from kids thus not performing as well in the classroom. Kids that rather watch
television more than studying have lower grades than the ones who study more than watch
television (Keith; Reimers; Fehrmann; Pottebaum; Aubey). With this conclusion why would
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students continue to watch more television? The harm it brings is that the students do poorly in
school with heavy television involvement and this is across all grades. In this sample, National
Opinion Research Center found that no matter the ethnicity, family background, age, gender,
ability, parental involvement, or even how much homework they have it still affects the student’s
grade in a bad way. The study was published all the way back in 1986 and it was a big problem
then and it must be an even greater affect now that it is way more popular. Another big concern
of the amount of television watched in a day or week is how it leads to obesity.
Obesity is a hot topic here in the United States today and is also a growing problem.
After looking at some tests and samples obesity can be related to how much someone watches
television. Growing kids need a lot of exercise to be able to grow up healthy and stay healthy as
they grow into a young adult and so forth but when television comes into play this can be altered
greatly. According to a study ran by the National Health Examination Survey, obesity is linked
to television and raises the chances of obesity by every hour of television viewed. This study
was run all the way back in the 80’s and then it was a concern. With the advancement of
television and the viewing hours being more this should be a huge concern to the people of
America. Deitz along with Gortmaker have found in a study that “In 12- to 17-year-old
adolescents, the prevalence of obesity increased by 2% for each additional hour of television
viewed.” Growing kids should turn off the television to go outside and be active so they can
fight the growing concern and cause of obesity. According to another study that used four to
seven year olds that had a high body mass index were monitored by cutting down their television
viewing time. The result to cutting down the time they watch television they study figured out
that it lowered the body mass index of these children (Epstein; Roemmich; Robinson; Paluch;
Winiewicz; Fuerch; Robinson). Again, this proves that less television is good for you and your
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body while at a growing age and more time spent in front of the television screen could be a
huge negative to a growing body. Yet another concern that should have more attention is the
violence television shows and how it is linked to aggressive behavior.
A lot studies talk about how violence in video games link to aggressive behavior in the
ones who play it. A study according to Anderson and Bushman, they found that there is violent
and aggressive behavior caused by the violence in the video games people play. That can be true
but the same thing goes with television and the violence it shows. Violence and aggressive
behavior on television can also be linked to aggressive behavior from the ones who watch it.
There are a bunch of violent things on television shows or even commercials. That goes for
almost all of the most popular channels on television. Even shows on Disney Channel and
Nickelodeon can have aggressive behavior as in something little like being rude to one another
on the show. That can get to the viewer and the viewer could be carrying around that habit from
just watching one of their favorite shows on television without even knowing it. There are
countless acts of violence or aggressive behavior on the most popular shows and some of it is
little and some of it big but it doesn’t matter what it is because the shows are showing the
viewers violent or wrongful acts. A study found by Johnson; Cohen; Smailes; Kasen and Brook
“Three to five violent acts are depicted in an average hour of prime-time television and 20 to 25
violent acts are depicted in an average hour of children's television.” The study shows that there
are many violent acts and an eye popping 20 to 25 violent acts in children’s television every
hour! It was also proved over all variants that aggressive and violent television does relate to
real life aggressive behavior and violent acts from the viewers (Johnson et al). All of these
negatives from watching television are huge problems today and losing sleep is another one of
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them. Extensive hours of television viewing could also lead to the viewer not getting enough
sleep or not being able to sleep from watching.
Sleep is a beautiful thing that everyone needs everyday of their lives but not getting
enough sleep or not being able to fall asleep quickly could be linked to extensive television
watching. Not getting enough sleep could lead to a number of problems for someone. It could
lead to being tired during the day and falling asleep at the wheel, slow down your cognitive
thinking, or lead to a serious health issue like heat disease, high blood pressure or even a stroke
(Peri). Sleep is a very important thing that we need to include the right amount of our everyday
lives. According to Johnson; Cohen; Kasen; First; Brook “Adolescents who watched 3 or more
hours of television per day during adolescence were at a significantly elevated risk for frequent
sleep problems by early adulthood.” Kids of all ages are affected by this and need to change
their habits of watching an extensive amount of television every day. Not saying that a little
television is bad but too much can be very harmful to a persons sleep schedule. The kids or even
their parents might not be able to notice the change a lot of television has on sleep but when
growing into their early adulthood there can be a problem that develops that leads to not enough
sleep (Johnson et al). This just goes to show that a growing body shouldn’t spend too much time
watching television through their day and week. Even though there are severe negatives if
someone spends too much time sitting around in front of the television screen there can be
positives coming out of watching television. One of these positives that television gives a
growing child is that children and teens can learn from watching some television.
One way a growing kid or teen can learn from television is from the academic side of it.
They can take what they learn by watching certain shows and apply that into the classroom and
have a better chance of getting a better grade in those classes. By watching educational television
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this can help the viewer get smarter and correspond that in the classroom. Older kids can learn
from television and certain programs like the History Channel or even the Discovery Channel.
But with younger kids not being able to understand such complex material there are different
shows for them. They can learn from channels such as the Disney Channel or PBS. A popular
little kid’s show from the last couple decades is Sesame Street and this can be linked to learning
and development in younger children. Watching educational television at a young age does help
them learn in a good way from the shows. However, many studies have come to the conclusion
that educational shows, like Sesame Street, produced long term benefits in the classroom and
learning rather than just sitting around and doing nothing (Fisch). Television is a blessing and a
curse but if the right shows are being watched they could help the viewer indefinitely. Another
benefit from educational television is an attitude adjustment for the viewers. According to a
study by Bogatz and Ball in 1972, they showed that two years of viewing Sesame Street
produced a more favorable attitude toward other children of a different race. Educational
television is a great way of growing into a person with a great attitude for others. These studies
showed this through all of the races and not just one or two (Gorn; Goldberg; Kanungo). Parents
should realize that exposure to certain television shows can help pave the way into a better
person with a great attitude for others of all types of ethnicities. Better grades and a better
attitude are huge benefits from young children watching educational television but there are
many more than just these two benefits.
Educational channels and how they teach children is biggest benefit of watching
television in adolescence but there can be more than just that. Other than the education shows
just regular series can benefit a growing kid in a few ways. A big benefit is that it can bring a
family closer by them all watching the same show (Kenney). The family can have bonding time
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and just spend time together. This could be the only time a family even spends any of the day
together if all of them are busy during the day. Prime time television series is a big help with
this and could have the family debating about it or just talking about how good last night’s
episode was. Certain shows can spark and inspiration for the kids that watch (Kenny). They can
be watching a show or movie that the character overcomes an obstacle in life and the kid can
learn from this. Some of the examples that the character overcomes in these shows and movies
the child may have never experienced in real life and learn from what the character in the show
does with these obstacles the child has never experienced. In a study according to the University
of Buffalo and Miami University of Ohio, they have found that “Humans can use technologies,
like television, to provide the experience of belonging when no real belongingness has been
experienced."(Kenny). It can also spark inspiration by bringing up a new topic for the child and
lead to a new learning experience or imagination for the child. Television is not just wearing
down a growing kids mental and physical being it does help in many ways also.
Looking at some big negatives and big positives from what television can give to a lot of
kids of all age groups, there could just be some things that very well can be a negative and even a
positive. With younger kids they do not really understand as much as an older kid does.
Watching television on any channel there is a great deal of commercials throughout a show or a
movie. So the younger kids do not really grasp what commercials are trying to tell them or sell
to them. While the child is viewing more and more television they can start to grasp the
commercial and maybe even start to understand what the commercials are trying to do. That can
be a good thing for a growing kid, learning how to understand the difference in their program
and the commercial. But it seems like there are quite a bit of commercials that try to sell the
viewer food that is not very good for the body and definitely not good for a growing kid. Like
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any fast food commercial. According to a sample done with 5-8 year olds, if there is parental
involvement while watching programs, the child does not grasp the difference between their
program and the commercials (Bijmolt). So it can be a blessing and a curse when getting
involved with younger children’s programs. We all want their minds to expand and learn but it
can come back to harm them when seeing these food commercials.
The way people look at what a television and what it can be capable of doing has
changed overtime but the main reason for it is for the entertainment it brings us. There are
shows for entertainment all over television and growing! There are consequences from watching
too many hours of television every day or week and there can be positives from a lot of viewing.
How many hours of television a day are right for a viewer? That is tough to say considering
there are negatives and positives. But overall it is just for the entertainment aspect for most
people in the world today. Even though there can be physical and mental harm coming from it.
The scariest part of it is that it affects the future generation and could cause that harm to their
future selves. Getting into bad eating habits from seeing fast food commercials, not progressing
as much in the classroom due to extensive television time or just something as simple as sitting
around doing nothing all day could harm a growing kid down the road. Watching television is a
leisure activity and will not go away anytime soon but too much can cause a lot of harm that
people do not even realize.
(Word Count: 2,405)
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References
Anderson, Craig A., and Brad J. Bushman. "Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive
Behavior,Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial
Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature." Sage Journals (2001):
n. pag. Print.
Bijmolt, Tammo H., Wilma Claassen, and Britta Brus. "Children's Understanding of Advertising:
Effects of Age, Gender, and Parental Influence." Journal of Consumer Policy (1998): n.
pag.Print.
Dietz, William H., Jr, and Steven L. Gortmaker. "Do We Fatten Our Children at the Television
Set? Obesity and Television Viewing in Children and Adolescents." Pediatrics (1985): n.
pag. Print.
Epstein, Lenard H.,et. al "A Randomized Trial of the Effects of Reducing Television Viewing
and Computer Use on Body Mass Index in Young Children." Jama Pediatrics (2008): n.
pag. Print.
Fisch, Shalom M. Children's Learning From Educational Television: Sesame Street and Beyond.
N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Gorn, Gerald J., Marvin E. Goldberg, and Rabindra N. Kanungo. "The Role of Educational
Television in Changing the Intergroup Attitudes of Children." Child Development
(1976): n. pag. Print.
Johnson, Jeffrey G.,First, et al. "Association Between Television Viewing and Sleep Problems
During Adolescence and Early Adulthood." Jama Pediatrics (2004): n. pag. Print.
Johnson, Jeffrey G., Cohen et al. "Television Viewing and Aggressive Behavior During
Adolescence and Adulthood." Science 29 (2002): n. pag. Print.
Keith, Timothy Z., et al. "Journal of Educational Psychology." Parental Involvement,
Homework, and TV Time: Direct and Indirect Effects on High School Achievement:
(1986) n. pag. Print.
Kenny, Ian, ed. "The Advantages of Children Watching TV." Livestrong. N.p., 17 Feb. 2015.
Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/118554-advantages-childrenwatch-tv/>.
Peri, Camille. "10 Things to Hate about Sleep Loss." WebMD: n. pag. Print.