How Media Affects Child Development

How Media Affects Children Development In the early stages of development, children are highly influenced by the technology around them. Whether it’s television, advertisements, video games, etc., our children are more affected by the media than we like to believe. By ages two to five, children are already watching television at least 32 hours week. However, by ages six to eight, the hours spent drop to 28 hours a week, due to the introduction of school into their everyday life (Livestrong). How much of this television time is your child retaining, is what is appearing on the screen appropriate for their age group, and how is it affecting them? From ages newborn to sixteen years is where most of the development and growing occurs, especially up to age six. What a child takes in during these stages plays a critical part of their development. The television shows that a child watches have an effect on personality, behavior, and point of view. Studies have shown that if a child were put in a room with violent programs on, then their behavior after watching can almost instantaneously change to more aggressive, and

is done at night before bed, which provides too much stimulus to the brain, and keeps the child awake. The effects of this can range from having nightmares to loss of sleep entirely. If a child spends all night watching television, and is deprived of sleep, this could lead to daytime drowsiness, which impairs their ability to focus in class, do their schoolwork, and function normally during the day. If they start losing sleep at an early age, then when they are older they can develop insomnia. Insomnia is a mental illness that prevents a person from falling asleep, and is linked to many different health problems. It is especially important to set a good sleep schedule, which does not include technology usage, at an early age because it is the foundation of their sleep schedule later in