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10 harmful effects of watching TV on children
Nowadays, many parents are busy so they are ready to let their children watch TV to avoid being disturbed. Now, parents should think again when they know the harms of watching TV on children.
Along with the development of modern technology and social life, the television has become an indispensable item in every family because it helps the whole family entertain and gather after meals. Besides these benefits, watching a lot of TV can have many negative health effects, especially for young children.
A recent study has shown that children who watch TV before going to kindergarten have more trouble than other kids. Letting children watch TV when they are too young will cause negative consequences when they are 10 years old, such as not liking to school, eating unhealthy foods and being obese. Watching too much on TV as a child is always thought to be harmful.
1. Watching TV a lot can damage the child's brain structure
Watching TV too much can damage brain structure. Children who spend most of their time watching television have more amount of gray matter in the areas around the prefrontal cortex, the area anterior to the frontal lobe, more. However, this increase is negative as it is associated with a weaker ability to understand the language.
Many people believe that watching TV can help children gain more knowledge from educational programs. However, in reality, too much knowledge acquisition is not necessarily good because the child's brain is still incomplete to contain all. This can damage the child's cognitive function.
2. Watching TV has no educational value for children under 2 years old
If your child is under 2 years old, watching TV does not give him any knowledge at all.
Television programs are not always suitable for children's cognitive abilities .
In fact, if children watch animation programs too much, they will have a very distorted view of the real world. Children will encounter some problems in handling situations if they are immersed in virtual world.
3. Takes the child precious time
Spending too much time watching TV can take your child a valuable time to experience the reality.
Observing and experiencing real life things can help develop brain function.
When children play with other children or play with real toys, they will learn more than just staring at the television.
4. Paralyzing creativity
When children are exposed to TV too much, their creative thinking ability can be paralyzed.
Some TV programs can teach children knowledge, but it limits their ability to think.
TV shows often feature prepared activities and ideas. Therefore, children will not be able to actively think or do something.
5. Children who watch TV often do not have time to read books
Instead of spending time sitting in front of the TV screen, children can use that time to read books.
Reading is a much better activity than watching TV. You should practice for children this habit from an early age so that when they reach school age, they can get used to books more easily.
Reading also improves children's cognitive and motor abilities. The time spent reading can help children improve their imagination and memory.
6. Watching TV too much can interfere with children's ability to communicate
Experts warn that too much exposure to TV noise can affect a child's ability to express. If your child is exposed to too much of the sounds coming from the TV, he will have difficulty receiving other sounds. This interferes with the child's ability to express and interferes with communication.
7. Difficulty learning with teachers
If you regularly watch educational programs on TV, your child may have difficulty interacting with the teachers' teaching in real life because:
What happens on television is often more fast paced and more animated than learning in real life. Once familiar with this learning style, children will find it difficult to concentrate when listening to the teacher in class.
In addition, watching television also makes it difficult for children to focus on studying or doing homework .
8. Affect negative things from television
Watching TV a lot is often seen as not good and one of the reasons is that it has programs that are not suitable for children.
Even though you have control over what programs your child watches, shows that are not appropriate for their age may appear at any time.
Television programs are not always suitable for understanding or with the values that you want to educate your child. For example, say you want to teach your child not to eat packaged foods, but the advertisements encourage this.
9. Easily lead to obesity
Watching TV when you are young can adversely affect a child's weight.
Children who watch TV a lot will have trouble with their own weight from an early age. Most of them will have a very high risk of being overweight and obese.
Watching TV a lot will make your child not have much time to exercise or participate in sports activities.
10. Increased blood pressure
Overexposure to television can cause high blood pressure in children.
Children 2-10 years old who watch TV a lot have a 30% greater risk of developing high blood pressure .
If watching TV is accompanied by inactivity, that number rises to 50%.
Through the above sharing, hopefully you have had some more useful information about the harmful effects of watching TV on children. Instead of spending time sitting in front of a screen, do you help your child engage in other more productive activities like reading or participating in outdoor activities.
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