Children Birthday Parties

How much impact TV has on children depends on many factors: how much they watch, their age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their parents talk with them about what they see on TV.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under 2 years old not watch any TV and that those older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming. To minimize the potential negative effects of television, it’s important to understand what the impact of television can be on children.

- Violence
Many violent acts are perpetrated by the “good guys,” whom kids have been taught to emulate. Even though kids are taught by their parents that it’s not right to hit, television says it’s OK to bite, hit, or kick if you’re the good guy. This can lead to confusion when kids try to understand the difference between right and wrong. And even the “bad guys” on TV aren’t always held responsible or punished for their actions.

Three potential responses to media violence in children:
- Increased fear—also known as the “mean and scary world” syndrome
- Desensitization to real-life violence
- Increased aggressive behaviour

Television seems to be the number one enemy of children today, and that although very well with them, produces damage forever sequelae in children.

A recent study that evaluated 1300 children at 29 months, at 53 months and 10 years old, found that television in the small influence future health, as more TV than two years, the greater the possibility that the child is doing poorly in school and poor health at age 10.

Specifically, for each additional hour of TV exposure among children, reduced school participation is increased harassment by colleagues, takes a more sedentary lifestyle, increased consumption of junk food and eventually, the rate of body mass.

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