Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy
Open Access

Impact of Television on a Child's Psychological Development

Sameh Rahma^{* *}Correspondence: Sameh Rahma, Department of Psychology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, Email:

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Description

Every child's existence revolves around television. Children are involved in an immersive experience through television, from the enchantment of superheroes to tuning in to horror weekends, and they live in their own reality. This bubble might become a cause of concern depending on the type of television being watched. Television may shape a person's character and personality, as well as alter their opinions and perspectives on life. Implementing extra care can ensure that your child enjoys television programmes while avoiding the harmful effects of watching television.

Children are frequently left alone in front of the television for long periods of time to watch a variety of programmes, even if such programmes are inappropriate for their age groups. Many of these shows contain violent and aggressive situations that have a harmful impact on youngsters. Children who are frequently exposed to violent conduct are more likely to develop aggressive behaviour. They are antagonistic and violent toward their classmates and are unable to form social relationships. Violent conduct may be described as any sort of purposeful activity that is intended to cause bodily or emotional harm to another person, and it can be verbal or physical. Children who are exposed to television violence may experience increased anxiety and fear. Heavy television viewing was linked to self-reported symptoms of anxiety, sadness, and post-traumatic stress in a study of more than 2,000 primary and middle school pupils.

Some other consequence of television on children is that it has a negative impact on their health. Children who sit in front of the television for an hour might develop health problems such as obesity. According to some research, children's television viewing does not directly induce obesity, but it does prevent them from engaging in other outdoor activities that boost their metabolism. Advertising has a significant influence on children's diets. Children's food and beverage commercials have long been criticised for influencing children's dietary choices. We frequently see children watching television and eating packets of chips and popcorn that are high in saturated fats, which lead to obesity, malnutrition, mineral deficiency, and anaemia. Children who viewed ads for sugared snacks and cereals were much more likely than children who saw public service announcements for healthful foods or children in a control group to declare they preferred highly sugared goods. Those who saw a pro-nutrition TV show were more likely to choose sugary foods than those who did not. The impact of television on children's learning and development is the most concerning of everything. Nevertheless, the impact of television on learning does not end there; it also has an impact on children's development, making it a major source of concern for parents and educators. There have been some suggestions that children's language development preferences are influenced by television. As children get older, their television viewing patterns shift. TV viewing habits, as well as the socio-cultural background, are influenced by children's mental capacities, lifestyles, and personalities. The amount of time people spend watching television has long been a source of worry. There seem to be a number of steps that may be taken to counteract the negative effects of television on children, but the most essential and initial step is raising awareness. We discovered that the major reason why parents allow their children to watch so much television is due to a lack of awareness. It might also be done by children's health care facilities, which could distribute brochures on the subject or host short seminars to educate parents about the impacts of television on children.

Conclusion

There is a lot that parents could do to reduce the impact of television on their children. The first thing parents may do is to limit how much television their children watch. This might be accomplished by substituting various interesting activities that allow children to connect with the outdoors and develop their senses. Instead of being stucked to the television, parents will discover their children developing attached to them and responding to them. In residences with a television set in the kid's room. Getting rid of them would be a sensible decision. These television sets will only serve to separate the children from the rest of the family. Parents should never allow their children to watch television without supervision, or purchase movies or cartoons without first confirming that they are appropriate for them all to watch.