How much does Television REALLY influence children??
Answer:
It all comes down to the parents! If you sit down with your children and explain the difference between tv and real life, they won't have a problem. My kids watch tv all the time and they know the different between real life and tv life.
Children will look for role models wherever they can find them. You are correct, the parents have control of what and when the children watch, but that does not absolve the TV companies from producing the dumbed down crap I see on there.
TV will only influence children to the extent that parents allow it. Unfortunately, way too many parents think the TV is a heckuva baby sitter.
I think it is fair to blame the Media; our children are like sponges! And video games are even worse!
I believe that parenting ultimately determines how a child behaves. That is not to say that television doesn't play a major role. Between parenting, media exposure and a child's own personality one can be fairly successful in tweaking her kid's behavior.
However, I find it unrealistic to encourage a child to believe that violence is a 'for TV only' kind of thing. I tell my children that violence on the whole is something that our family strives not to embrace, but there are those who do and times when we will want to. I encourage them to find other ways, but I don't treat people who do deal in violence like lesser people because I don't want my children behaving violently.
We have to limit our children's media exposure to examples of people we wouldn't mind them imitating. The rest (and there's a lot) is almost entirely up to us.
It's irrelevant. You're not going to get away from it. So don't worry about it. And if you take it away from the brat? He'll rebel.
me and my brother watch tv a lot everyday, but we get very good grades, n my brother is really active, and i am pretty active too. me and my brotehr started watching wwe(raw smackdown) when we were young then it influenced us but now we are older n it does not. and u have to trust ur kids. iff u think that after watchin a violent, or sexual scene they r going to be wanting to do the same, then u need to talk to them. realitty. yea i agree with u
Of coruse tv influences them. Especially young children. Its not until ages 6-8 that children are able to readily disconnnect and reconize real from unreal things and situations. This process starts at about age 3, but its not finely tuned until later.
Exposing them to 'situations' on tv leaves them with examples of behavior that they do not have a concept of consequence for. Theyre emotionaly and mentally incapable of distiguishing the two. No matter how advanced they seem.
Like the boy who watched wrestling constantly, and used to try the 'moves' on other children. BUt without the ability to understand real and unreal, and consequence of action, he was too violent and killed a child while acting out what he saw on tv.
Or what about all the children who see guns on tv, and thats their excuse for wanting to see the ones they know their aprents have hidden in the house? They end up shooting themselves or a friend by accident.
Good parenting is important, and children who have good parents are less likely to make these mistakes, but why foul up an otherwise hard enough process with garbage from TV?
Out jobs as parents is to protect our children. Some times that simply means their innocence.
Children learn from example, even if those setting the example are only tv characters. Its foolish to think anything else.
Amosunknown hides her crackpipe under the pillow!
The answers post by the user, for information only, FeelBaby.com does not guarantee the right.