Chapter 51 TV: Nudity and Death

No discussion of a child's day in life is complete without an assessment of the impact of television on a child's values ​​and behavior. Children love watching TV, and many children prefer such activities to reading, listening to music, or talking.For advertisers, kids are the perfect audience because they are impressionable, believe in commercials, are amazing at learning idiot jingles, and love to bug their parents with stupid jingles.They have minimal requirements for a show: no creativity, no artistry.Horror or plastic surgery male protagonists attract their attention.In this way, for hours on end, day after day, all the children saw was violence and murder, mixed with short songs and commercials.

Parents have two attitudes toward television: Parents like the fact that it takes their children's attention and keeps them out of trouble; but they worry that TV programs may be harmful to their children. Television programs promote violence, shallow emotions, rigidify thinking, and undermine socially ethical behavior.In addition, television occupies an important part of a child's life.Children spend more time in front of the TV than with their parents.Even those scenes of sex and brutality that are meant for pure fun divert the child away from more constructive activities.A prominent psychologist has noticed that people are completely devoid of the optimal experience they call "flow" while watching television.The best environment for growth is when "one's skills are fully devoted to overcoming a challenge that is barely manageable".For a child, it might mean writing a poem, or writing a short story; sculpting in clay, or building a castle with bricks; acting in a play with a sibling, or going on an adventure with a friend.Growth and fulfillment come more easily from focused effort than from mindless TV watching.

In some families, children are only allowed to watch one hour of TV a day, and in others, children are only allowed to watch certain programs at certain times, selected with the consent of the parents.Some parents believe that television is like medication, which must be taken at the designated time and in the correct dose. Two famous pediatricians gave specific suggestions: "Before children are three years old, watch TV for no more than half an hour a day. After three years old, accompanied by their parents, they can watch TV for another half an hour." More and more parents feel that the choice of TV programs cannot be completely left to their children, and they do not want those problematic characters to affect their children.Children don't need to avoid all tragedies, just entertainment that treats human cruelty not as a tragedy but as a formula.

It is not enough for parents to monitor the quality and nature of children's media programming; parents can open doors for children to learn, communicate, and contribute through healthy relationships, joyful play, and satisfying hobbies.