THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VIEWING ON CHILDREN

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and our special guest, Mr. Kington. We are Group 5 and our presentation is about some of the negative effects of television viewing on our children. We will now do a short role play. Role Play Narrator: Ten-year-old Dionne and 13-year-old Delanos favorite past time is watching television. The minute they come home from school the television is on and stays that way until dinner time. After dinner and homework, both kids settle in on the couch for another couple hours of t.v. before bedtime. The amount of t.v. the kids watch bothers their mother, Marcia. However, being a single mother, and after a long day of working, running errands, and keeping up with the house, she is often too tired to argue with her children about their t.v. viewing habits. Marcia comes in from work, showing tiredness and flops down on the couch. She sees her children watching TV (Dionne and Delano) but ignores them muttering to herself that she is too tired to monitor what they are watching and anyway, its only TV, its not real so it wont harm them in any way. Narrator: But she is wrong, dead wrong. Introduction We all know that managing television viewing is a tough job for parents. It requires constant vigilance, monitoring and negotiation. This is not easy because, as a society, we are often ambivalent about television. It can be a comfort, a baby-sitter or an entertainer. For most people, it has been there every day of our lives; we watched TV as children and feel we were not harmed by it. Lets face it, children love television and there is undoubtedly some good childrens programming. However, over

the last 20 years, television content has changed dramatically, inciting us as parents and guardians, to monitor television viewing by our children. On average, children watch three to four hours of television each day. By the time they are 18 most will have spent more time watching television than in the classroom. And, while there are programs that can teach our children good values, there are many more programs that can have a poor impact. This presentation will expound on some of the negative effects that television viewing has on our children and strategies we can use to limit these negative effects. BODY 1. Delano:

Television Viewing Affects Creativity And Language Skills Children who spend a great deal of time watching television have less time for playing, reading, doing homework, and talking with other children and adults. Language skills are best fostered through reading and active two-way participation in conversations and play activities. When children spend three to five hours a day watching television, time for other activities is severely limited. Childhood is a period of growth and development, when kids need to play -both alone and with peers and excessive TV watching can interfere with growth in these areas. It is important for children to read and talk with other children and adults. 2. DEON:

Television Viewing Induces Violence and Risky Behavior The amount of violence on television is increasing. Research indicates that television violence can be harmful to young children. Children who see violence on TV can become

frightened, worried, or suspicious. Researchers also found that children who watch many violent programs tend to be more aggressive than other children on the playground and in class. Be aware that viewing violent programs may encourage your childs tendency toward aggression. Children often behave differently after theyve been watching violent programs on television. Children, who watched violent shows were more likely to strike out at playmates, argue, disobey authority and were less willing to wait for things thaN children who watched nonviolent programs. However, while TV violence is not the only cause of aggressive or violent behaviour, it is clearly a significant factor. 3. Kerrie Ann: Television Viewing Inhibits School achievement Many recent studies indicate that excessive television viewing may have a detrimental effect on learning and school performance. The hours spent watching television interfere with homework and limit the time available for other ways of learning. If your child is not performing well academically, ask yourself whether television watching is contributing to the problem. Excessive viewing could affect your child's grades and alertness in school. 4. Melrose:

Television Viewing Contributes to Childhood Obesity You may think a couple of hours of TV after school is harmless to your child, but you might be mistaken. Because TV watching detracts from the time a child could spend in active play and exercise and encourages high-calorie snacking, a few hours of TV are far from harmless and may actually be contributing to rising rates of childhood obesity.

Television can also contribute to childhood obesity by aggressively marketing junk food to young audiences. According to research, most food advertising on children's TV shows is for fast foods, candy and pre-sweetened cereals. Commercials for healthy food make up only 4 per cent of those shown. A lot of money goes into making ads that are successful in influencing consumer behaviour. McDonald's, for instance, reportedly spent $500 million on their "We love to see you smile" ad campaign. 5. Marcia:

Television Viewing Exposes Children To Sexual Content Kids today are bombarded with sexual messages and images in all mediatelevision, magazines, advertisements, music, movies and the Internet. Parents are often concerned about whether these messages are healthy. While television can be a powerful tool for educating young people about the responsibilities and risks of sexual behaviour, such issues are seldom mentioned or dealt with in a meaningful way in programs containing sexual content. According to research, three out of four prime time shows contain sexual references. Situation comedies top the list: 84 per cent contain sexual content. Of the shows with sexual content, only one in ten included references to safe sex, or the possible risks or responsibilities of sex. In shows that portrayed teens in sexual situations, only 17 per cent contained messages about safe and responsible sex. You have just heard some of the negative effects of television viewing on our children.

WHAT CAN WE DO, AS PARENTS AND GUARDIANS, TO LIMIT THESE NEGATIVE EFFECTS? EFFECT OF TV VIEWING ON OUR CHILDREN? Narrator: Television watching should be a fun and relaxing activity for kids and adults alike. If you're concerned about television, banning it isn't a practical solution. Instead, you need to learn to co-exist with television by managing how much your kids watch, and what. Take control of your family's viewing habits by using some of these strategies: 1.

DELANO Start young. It's wise to work on developing good TV viewing habits well before your children start school. As they grow older, it will become more difficult for you to enforce restrictions or influence their tastes. Set Limits. Limit the amount of time your kids spend watching television, especially on school nights. Make sure they're involved in other activities such as sports, hobbies and playing outside.

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MELROSE Monitor what your children watch, and whenever possible watch with them and discuss the program. Young children are at higher risk of becoming aggressive after watching violence on TVespecially cartoons. You should limit the amount of violence they're exposed to and monitor their behaviour after watching violent shows. Be an example. Kids model their behaviour on that of their parentsso take a hard look at your own viewing habits, and if necessary, change them.

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DIONNE Encourage your children to watch a variety of programs: sports, nature and science shows, the arts, music and history shows. There's a lot of great TV programming out there that makes learning about the world interesting and fun. Encourage your child to watch programs with characters that cooperate and care for each other. Such programs have been shown to influence children in positive ways. Make sure your kids know that it's their right to say no to programs they find too frightening when visiting friends or relatives. Consider the best place for your television set. When your children are small, use the old adage "out of sight, out of mind"and keep the TV in a room away from where your family spends most of its time. When your kids get older, you might want it to be in a more visible place for easier monitoring. Never put a television set in a child's bedroom! MARCIA

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Don't leave your TV on when you're not watching it. Turn it on for a specific show, and turn it off again when the show is over. This makes television a special experience that your children can look forward to. When your children's friends come to visit, insist on some "no-TV" time. Don't be afraid to restrict viewing of certain shows, even if your children's friends are allowed to watch them. You have the right to protect your children from inappropriate viewing and they will accept your concern as a sign of caring. KERRIE ANN Tell the parents of your children's friends about your television rules. It's hard to control what your children see at other houses, but if parents talk about their TV rules with others, it's easier to protect children from unsuitable

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programming. Also, make sure your caregiver or sitter knows about, and follows, your TV rules.

Forbid violent shows - Pay attention to what shows your child watches. Many of the shows designed for children and teens contain violence, sex, drugs, and alcohol. Often parents must actually watch a show their child is interested in to discover these topics are being addressed. Be clear which shows are okay to watch and turn off the TV when you don't approve.

CONCLUSION NARRATOR As children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear, especially television. While television programs can be educational and offer lots of benefits to kids, many children watch too much television. It decreases active time that could be spent playing with peers, daydreaming, thinking, participating in sports, music and other activities. Heavy viewing can reduce school performance by interfering with studying and reading. Excessive amounts of television viewing can be harmful to a child. On the other hand, appropriate television viewing can educate children about different lifestyles and cultures, teach humanity toward others, instruct on hobbies such as cooking and crafts, and so on. Parents who limit their own television time and watch healthy programs can send a clear message to their children about responsible television viewing. In this crowded television environment, the key for parents is to search out high quality TV programs for their kids, and whenever possible, enjoy them together as a family. Thank you for listening and we hope that our presentation was an eye opener to you all.

Group will introduce themselves.