Television, video games, the Internet, social media, and music platforms all have one thing in common. They are obsessively consumed by today’s youth and their generation. Almost all children born in the 2000s, ages 2 to 18, have a mobile phone with Internet capability. According to a statement published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, around 75 percent of teenagers today have a smartphone (Moreno, Megan A. et al). The sheer amount of media available to these youths across all platforms is unprecedented and has never been seen in history. Parents of these children nowadays did not have this access to media in their childhood. It is a relatively new battle that children and their parents are facing. Across the spectrum of media, television has remained the all-time most popular form of media consumed by children. The American Academy of Pediatrics also states that the average time a child – ages 8 and older – spends watching television a day is over 2 hours (Moreno, Megan A. et al). That is a staggering amount of consumption. This excessive consumption of media through television has many effects on a child. These effects can be both positive and negative. This essay seeks to delve into and explain, in-depth, the positive and negative effects of television on developing children, ages 2 to 18, in today’s culture. Even though media can have some limited benefits to children, media exposure to children has a starkly negative effect. 

Media consumption only started taking off a few years ago. In the 1950s there were no smartphones, video game consoles, or widespread television. Adults today can attest to the difference in media availability between their generation and later ones. The latest generation of children is the first one that is truly inundated with media. An example of this is the exponential rise in media prevalence over the past two years. According to an article published by Common Sense Media, “The percent of children with access to some type of ‘smart’ mobile device at home (e.g., smartphone, tablet) has jumped from half (52%) to three-quarters (75%) of all children in just two years” (Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America 2013). Another statistic published in this article states that over half (58%) of children today watch television at least once a day (Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America 2013). This is not only children in the United States, but also children in other developed countries all over the world. In a TED talk done by Oda Faremo on the effects of media on youth, she quotes a statistic from a Norwegian study done to find out how much media children in Norway consume each day. The children who were surveyed estimated that they used the Internet for three and a half hours a day (Faremo). This does not include the time spent watching television (Faremo). The question to ask now is this: what are its long-term effects on the children who consume it? 

Despite how widespread and available this media is to children, parents seem to have a rather negative view of it. In an article published by the New York Times titled “Americans Despair of Popular Culture,” it is explained how Americans have an extremely negative view, on average, of pop culture (Kolbert). Pop culture is what is fed to children through various media sources. Television broadcasts this pop culture to young children and they become enveloped in it. The article also summarized a poll ran on parents and others of that age group to see what their opinions were on where pop culture stands and how it affects their children (Kolbert). Just over half of the adults interviewed could not think of one positive thing to say about modern day television (Kolbert). In addition, “9 out of 10 of those polled could think of something bad to say about popular culture…” (Kolbert). This poll was run in 1995, almost 25 years ago. At this point, the majority of children did not have unlimited access to smart technology like we see today. The children then did not have such advanced access to the Internet through tablets and laptops. Moreover, the rate of media consumption has done nothing but increase over the past few years. If adults in 1995 had bad things to say about media consumption and pop culture, then it is safe to assume that for today’s parents, popular opinion about pop culture has probably continued to decrease. 

There has been extensive research into the effects that this media consumption has on developing children. Many pediatric organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, have published multiple studies on the topic. It is very apparent to physicians, parents, and even children themselves that this consumption of media has a lasting effect. Others, such as television producers, pop culture stars, and the makers of these media platforms, have some idea of how their work affects children through media. This topic and issue has an enormous number of invested viewers. Besides these believers, the vast amount of media circulating around is commonly known to first world populations. With this many people conscious about the topic, many must be asking, what are the effects? 

Some of the more common sense benefits are easier to see. Social media in particular allows for connectivity for family members and friends who are separated by long distance (Moreno). In addition, exposure to different forms of media can provide new information and new ideas to children, and raise awareness for current events (Moreno). Furthermore, public access television has presented itself as a possibility for educational purposes (Haywood). Even so, this is not widespread, and while television does remain as the most prevalent form of media consumption, it is on the decline (Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America 2013). Educational television and educational applications/computer games have the most real estate when it comes to benefits. A book titled “Children in the Digital Age – Influences of Electronic Media on Development” explains educational television shows in more detail (Calvert et al). In Chapter 9, they explain that there was an act in 1990 called the Children’s Television Act of 1990 (Calvert et al. 180). This requirement by the government made television stations show a certain amount of “educational” television shows for every non-educational show (Calvert et al. 180). This is a clear benefit of children watching television. In addition, the book made the point that it is the media content that affects the children the most, not necessarily the sheer amount consumed (Calvert et al. xiv). In the case of educational television shows, this rings true, and is good for children. In the case of almost every other show, it also rings true, but is detrimental to the development of children. 

The Mr. Rogers Show is a dated but wildly well-known television show that targeted children. This television show is a perfect example of the positive benefits of television on children, in several different ways. First, the show is pointed towards children. Once this is made known to parents and guardians, then they are more likely to let their children watch it. Another benefit of the show is the content, which is easy enough to see. The last major benefit of this television show is not something that can easily be seen. In a speech entitled “Media and Children,” the speaker, Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician, makes a point regarding the reality of children’s television shows. He starts the talk by explaining how children’s attention spans are very short. The television producers know this and therefore make shows that will capture and retain the child’s attention (Christakis). This is done by making the shows more exciting and fast-paced than life (Christakis). The downside to this that will be further addressed later is that once children look away from the television, they get bored immediately (Christakis). The thing about the Mr. Rogers Show is that it is slower than life. It slows things down so children can understand what they are seeing better (Christakis). What this does is improve the child’s attention span elsewhere. After watching the show, the child is more interested in what is going on around them and can focus better (Christakis). This one television show contains almost every benefit of media on children and their development. 

 There is a plethora of negative effects of media on children. The first and most common negative effect of television is the time consumption. According to an article on the Pediatrics and Child Health Journal, the average child will spend more time watching television than in the classroom, all the way until graduation (Ford-Jones, Anthony, et al). This can have a clear downside for school performance. There are correlations between the amount of violence seen on television and the aggressive behavior of children (Ford-Jones, Anthony, et al). Other negative effects include obesity problems associated with the inactivity of watching television (Ford-Jones, Anthony, et al). Internet, television, and other media consumption can also increase sexual and inappropriate behaviors prematurely (Ford-Jones, Anthony, et al). Other risks include premature alcohol use after viewing popular figures on television drink (Selter). In the same vein, when developing children see popular figures smoke and abuse tobacco products, a strong attraction is formed between looking “cool” and abusing the same dangerous products (Selter). One of the final risks is the general danger of placing personal information across different social media platforms. This can lead to identity theft, cyberbullying, and stalking problems. The last and perhaps most profound issue is the problem of overstimulation by children’s television shows (Christakis). 

Television shows targeted at children have a serious problem to overcome: children’s attention spans. Everyone is familiar with the inability of small, developing children to focus for long periods of time on anything. In a TED talk by Dmitri Christakis, a pediatrician and researcher, he explains the results of recent studies on the effects of common television shows and attention deficit disorders later in life (Christakis). He explains that from the ages of 1 month to around 2 years, the child’s brain grows and develops more than during any other time span during their life (Christakis). Too little stimulation of the brain during this time span is harmful to proper brain development (Christakis). An excellent example of this is the Romanian Orphanage Study (Weir). In 1989, there was a huge influx of children born into Romania’s very impoverished conditions, so much so that the children in orphanages outnumbered employees 15 to 1 (Weir). What occurred was an extreme under-stimulation of these children’s brains. The effects of this are very well-studied, and they are nothing positive (Weir). These problems can range from delays in cognitive function, language, motor development, or lower IQ scores to more inclination to socio-emotional behaviors; and the children studied were more likely to experience more psychiatric disorders (Weir). As Dr. Christakis explains, under-stimulation is bad: however, over-stimulation is also detrimental (Christakis), as can be seen when we look at fast-paced television shows. 

Early in the speech, Dr. Christakis ntroduces the idea of several television shows, and how fast-paced they are (Christakis). He uses the example of “Baby Einstein” and he shows clips of the show to the audience (Christakis). It is very easy to see how unrealistic it is. It is full of loud, exciting noises and very fast screen changes (Christakis). As the show’s producers know, this is perfect for capturing the attention of little children. They are drawn to it (Christakis). The hypothesis is then presented as follows: “Prolonged exposure to rapid image change during the critical period of brain development can precondition the mind to expect high levels of stimulation” (Christakis). This would then lead to inattention later in life (Christakis). There is the problem. Children are conditioned to be bored with life later, after having a childhood filled with over-stimulating television shows (Christakis). With the prevalence of television and the abundance of these shows, it is no wonder that more and more children these days are struggling in school. 

Another very common risk of children consuming popular television is the danger of copying what they see. In this new age, one of the most common concerns involves tobacco and related products. Yet this copying behavior is not limited to one action. As today’s media becomes more and more sexualized, inappropriate behaviors and visuals are more and more prevalent. Virtually anything can be accessed with a few touches of a screen. Violence also covers a very large portion of this argument. Cartoons can even show up to 20 violent acts an hour (Beresin). And as children are unable to distinguish the line between reality and fantasy, everything they see on television becomes that much more real (Beresin). For this essay, I will restrict the effects to only smoking, as it provides the widest base of research 

In the recent years, smoking has become a negative point of conversation. After the early craze and popularity, the abundance of smokers – specifically children and teens – has decreased. This no thanks to popular movies. A study was published on the effect on youth of clips of movies and advertisements that contained people smoking (Pechmann, et. al.). It was run in the early 2000s to study two common theories on “the effects of smoking in feature films on youths and the ability of antismoking advertising to nullify those effects” (Pechmann, et. al.). This was an extensive study run on two groups of ninth graders in response to the rising fear of smoking and its effects (Pechmann, et. al.). The results supported the so-called ‘Forbidden Fruit Thesis’ in which young children, with malleable minds, tend to desire those things they are told they cannot have, and yet see often (Pechmann, et. al.). This can be nullified, as found in the study, by seeing antismoking advertising, but only if the advertisement is shown before the film or pro-smoking advertisement (Pechmann, et. al.). The bottom line here is that the ‘Forbidden Fruit Thesis’ can be applied very broadly to different effects, not only to smoking (Pechmann, et. al.). It can be very dangerous for children, who know no better, to see mature or inappropriate content. Such content is becoming only easier to access and more common in media. 

In today’s culture, obesity is an ever-increasing problem.. An article published by the New York Times in 2008 nicely summarized the effect of media on children’s obesity. The article states it very clearly: “In a clear majority of those studies more time with television, films, video games, magazines, music and the Internet was linked to rises in childhood obesity…” (Selter). The inactivity associated with watching television and interacting with these media outlets has created a common sedentary theme. 

This childhood obesity theme is not limited to the United States. In a publication from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the issue of media and obesity is covered (Strasburger). The report talks on how rising obesity problems are occurring all around the world (Strasburger). It also discusses the risks of watching too much television as a child, and the impact on the likeliness of adult obesity (Strasburger). The results are staggering. In a longitudinal study conducted in the United Kingdom, it was found that “For each additional hour of TV watched on weekends at age 5, the risk of adult obesity increased by 7%” (Strasburger). The report contains various other studies and results that almost all point to the same theme. The more television watched as a child, the more sedentary their life, and therefore the more risk there is for overweight problems (Strasburger). The report finished by listing the direct mechanisms on which the above principle operates (Strasburger). Children who watch more television tend to have a higher-caloric-intake diet; they have more abnormal sleep routines as an effect of the screen time; and the watching of television “Displaces more active pursuits” (Strasburger). 

With all the risks and dangers of television and media, it is impressive how common it still is in our culture. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly more common. The question now becomes: how can these dangers be avoided? How can the negative effects of media on developing children be mitigated? According to reports from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Academy of Pediatrics, moderation is key (Strasburger, Beresin). In order to combat all of the negative effects, parents and guardians need to take responsibility for the wellbeing of their children, not only off but also on media platforms (Beresin). Some of the most common methods of this involve limiting access to television, smartphones, and tablets (Beresin), as well as forcing other activities, such as outdoor play and playing with toys rather than screens (Strasburger) Another common theme is taking televisions out of children’s rooms, thereby promoting activity and protecting against sedation (Strasburger). Any combination of these would provide a great help to children who live in a world where their screen time takes up more time than school (Beresin). It all starts with the parents. Children cannot care for themselves, and their wellbeing is on the shoulders of those who take care of them. Growing children are the next generation of leaders, and parents today need to take action in order to give their children the best and healthiest childhood possible. 
