How imagination portrayed through Television affects child development

Introduction

            Child development is the biological, psychological and the emotional changes that take place in the life of human beings after birth until one cross the adolescence boarder. These changes are found to be of great importance to every growing child in that it helps them in becoming autonomy as they stop depending on their parents in decision making. The process of child development is consistent and has a predictable sequence with an exclusive course for every child. The rate at which children experience development varies with the different stages a child goes through during development. However, the reason the rate varies is because the process of child development is influenced by several factors. Some of the factors that manipulate child development are found to be genetic and also the events the child is exposed to during prenatal life. Both prenatal and genetic development is included in the child development study.

    The other related terms used in child development some of them include development psychology, a term that is used to explain more about the development of a child throughout the life span. Maturation is a process through which child development occur as a result of genetically-controlled methods. Besides, maturation can be as a result of some environment related factors and education. However, the interaction of children has been found to be of great importance to child development.  Children are known to be highly influenced by what they see and hear as they grow. This paper is aimed at establishing the effect of the television to a growing child. The television is found to create imaginations to individuals viewing their programs with children not being exceptional.  To understand how imagination portrayed by televisions affects the child development stages, it will be advisable to learn more about some child development stages (Patterson 15).

     Any child is found to grow and undergo some developments through several stages. These groups can be grouped in various ways in this paper we will use the child development stages referred as a milestone by age. This is a development based on the age of a child.

    During the stage of a child between 1-4 months, it has been found that head and chest circumference are almost equal to the part of the abdomen. During this stage, the head circumference of the child increases by 2cm every month of child’s development until when the child reaches two months. However, after the child reaches two months, the head circumference starts increasing at the average of 1.5 cm per month until the child become four years old. The increased head circumference is a good indication that the child’s brain is growing. At this stage, the child uses the abdominal muscles for breathing. At this early stage of the child’s life, the skin remains sensitive, and it irritates easily. The child is found to have bowed legs and at this stage children have poor vision. However, due to poor vision children at this stage will not be able to watch TV programs. Besides the, child at this stage is found to have the problem of focusing on objects hence cannot follow image presented to them using their eyes. This is a stage where the child has been found to be dormant when it comes to the use of their eyes.  However, at the same time they can respond to some change of environmental conditions in the case of a warm climate. Children at this stage respond to any discomfort by crying. During this stage, children may not be able to be affected by images but they can hear and they will respond by crying in case they are disturbed (Patterson 35).

    After children cross four months, they can be affected by imagination portrayed by TV programs. Television has been found to play an important role in the lives of children as they grow. Most of the TV programs are found to affect family routines, social interactions, cultural norms and leisure activities, and all this has been found to have some temporally effect to child development. The TV is said to be the first mass media a change gets involved with, and it has been interesting to many children. It becomes important to them in such a way that at times they are addicted to some TV programs. In the 21st century, research indicates that there a more than three televisions in every average family and this brings out the message that in the 21st-century children grow watching televisions. Televisions have been found to be a media channel that has proved to be so influential in child’s development and growth (Singer 10).

    However, it is advisable for children of two years and below to watch TV programs. Television is found to affect children development in different ways. The media is important about child’s health, well-being and development. Cognitive, social-emotional and physical development occur in children when they are being exposed to television

    There are benefits associated with childhood cognitive development that occur as a result of imaginations created by televisions. The cognitive development comprises things like building skills such as pre-reading, language and vocabulary and numeracy. The imagination portrayed by television helps children to have all these qualities, and this helps the children to develop skills of intelligence. Cognitive development realized through watching TV programs by children help in brain growth. This is because developmental science indicates that the brain acquires an incredible amount of information about language during the first year of life. This happens even at times when the infants can barely speak (Singer  15).

    Television is said to provide a good environment for a growing child. Any child growing up in an environment well equipped with the media is found to develop speaking skills where children become acquainted with alphabets. Televisions provide imagination pictures that help growing children to acquire basic building blocks for learning how to read. It is clear that children who go to school lacking these skills find it hard to cope with the new environment (Singer 23).

    Cognitive development explains more on how individuals perceive, think and gains understanding about the world they live in. Among the areas improved through cognitive development include information processing, intelligence, and reasoning. After 12 months of age, children can follow-up running objects, and this means they can watch TV programs that will shape their thinking and information processing. Many children have become great consumers of televisions. A good example is data collected in Australia which indicated that children more time watching TV than they spend doing other activities (Singer 32).

    There are some health benefits realized by children who watch TV programs. As children grow up watching TV programs, they can get some tips that can help them to live healthily as they improve their well-being. However, such children will grow well informed and stand a better chance of staying healthy for long when compared to children who have limited access to television. Children exposed in imagination portrayed by television are said to have a good understanding of the world. Besides, such children will be innovative in life. Such children will grow knowing that the world is beyond their locality. Such a child will grow with a high expectation of exploring the world. When compared to children who have less access to a TV these children are always smart and can think fast. Children who can think fast are found to stand a better chance of doing well in their studies. Besides, such students will be good in the decision-making process and if they work out their skills they can become great leaders of tomorrow. Television is known to connect growing children with the world, great leaders’ great movie actors and this can be a platform where a growing child is motivated in achieving their dreams. When they are inspired by the imagination brought about by television such children will want to become that great personality, and this will call for more where they will be required to be disciplined (Singer 45).

    Children in the age bracket of 2-5 years are found to be entering into a new phase of growth and development. Such children are in a position to roam from one point to another. At this age children are exploring the environment where children can learn more about names of objects of interest and at the same time the ability to raise questions concerning their environment or about something they have seen on the media. Children exposed to imaginations portrayed on television can ask questions about what they are watching, and this helps such a child in developing a learning spirit. The parents must be very friendly and honest when answering the questions raised by their children. When children ask questions at this stage, they should be told lies because the child may grow knowing the wrong thing, and it cost them shortly before they realize the truth.  During this stage of child development, the most challenging factor is developing the habit of regulating emotions. At this stage, there is rapid development physically and intellectually, and this will be enhanced by watching TV programs that will help growing children to learn more about how to make a decision.  When children get information that will be of great help in the realization of their dreams parents will be expected to the coaches of their children. However, for the growth and development to be effective parents must encourage their children (Singer 56).

    At the age of 6- 12 years children become more aggressive, and they are now sensitive to what happens in their environment. This is the age where now children have a clear insight of what they wish to become. Children watching television at this age will learn a lot because at this age they can understand and follow up an event. However at this age children should be advised by their parents on what to watch and the impact of bad programs. At this age children can commit themselves to something, and this is the moment watching the TV has great impact. However, now that these children can understand events and have developed learning skills they will be able to broaden the communication skills as they learn from the TV programs. During this age children are found to be willing to follow up an event or program closely admiring characters of the opposite sex. This will help such kids to have confidence when socializing with children from opposite sex. At this age children are found to admire any successful personality, and this is the time you will most of them wanting to be like one of the great personalities when they grow up. Children who frequently watch TV will be in a position to commit them to doing something that can lead to success when compared to other children who rarely watch television. However, children who watch TV at the age of 6- 12 years can develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Through some documentaries proved in TV programs children will be able to understand more about family values. Children who watch TV programs based on certain books will develop great reading skills, and this will boost their performance in school (Salkind 33).

    When children reach the teenage stage, they are still affected by the media especially watching the TV. At teenage children, abilities will have developed to cases where they can use some already acquired skills. Through acquired skills on reading and writing children can use such their skills in blogging. The TV creates more awareness to children concerning politics and the social world. This awareness will connect the children with the real World and the process of creating the next generation of leaders will start. At the age above 12-year children will be able to analyze events hence they will be able to make the right decisions. At the age of 12 years and above children can understand current affairs and judge events once they occur in a movie they are watching. Children who grow with clear understanding their world stand a better chance of exploring the world when compared to children who grow in places with no television. (Salkind 50).

    However, there are some negative effects brought about by child development through imagination portrayed by television. A growing child is known to be very sensitive to information, and this is why television can work for good or worse during child development. Children are emulating what they see on television and this means any wrong message send through the television will affect the child’s growth negatively. There are benefits associated with the development of cognitive skills and at the same time there are negative skills that can be acquired during child development stages which can be acquired from the imagination images portrayed on the television. Television is found to affect cognitive skills that are vital in child development and growth. There are some critics who have argued that television has many negative effects on the development process of a child, especially the development of cognitive skills. The issue raised by critics is that television affects the development of attention of a growing child. It has been established that most of the TV programs are known to change their topics and scenes regularly, and this will affect the ability of the children in developing the ability to pay attention. According to research conducted in the 1980s, it was found that children exposed to television at early stages had problems of concentration. It was found that child who was exposed to television at the age of 3 years were vulnerable to developing attention problems when they reached seven years. The mediating factor connecting early television exposure with attention skills is program content. Most of the TV programs children views are not in the form of a series but instead they air different stories every day hence children will not be able to follow up such stories (Salkind  54).

    Sometimes parents find it hard to control what the children can view, and this has exposed children to watching some movies or TV programs carrying wrong information especially abusive information. Through such cases, children may develop the attitude that the use of abuse language is a normal thing and makes one look important. However, such children may develop the habit of bullying and abusing their friends and, in the long run, such a child will be a disgrace to the entire society. A child who has been found to be bullied is found to have been brought up in a family where they used to watch TV programs that promoted violence and bullying. Some TV stations bring programs that are said somehow promote violence in families, and this may affect child development where such children may grow up not valuing values that enhance peace and love in the family. When such children grow up, they may find it difficult to uphold family values, and this may lead to family break ups hence family break up (Patterson 45).

    According to research carried out in Australia children watch TV more than any other activity they do as long as they are awake. However, this may affect the health of the children in that, in the long run, they will lack physical exercise like walking, and this will affect their health. Some of the activities that children may lack as a result of watching the TV include playing with friends and eating. Some children are always willing to watch a TV program even if it means abstaining from taking their meals. Watching the TV will deny children the chance of developing their skills in other areas of their lives. Children who are always glued to their screens may not get a chance to do a thorough study, and this may affect their performance in school. Activities like sports and singing requires individuals to do a lot of practice if they want to be gurus however television will deny children such chances (Patterson 23).

    Since the 1950s some researcher has come forward trying to check on whether there is any connection between exposure to media elevating violence and violent behavior. Majority has said that it is true that children exposed to violent images as they grow higher chances of being violent in their lives. According to AAP, “Extensive research evidence shows that violent images shown in some TV programs can lead to the development of aggressive behaviors to children while undergoing growth and development. Children who watch violent movies are subject to experience nightmares and fear of being harmed and this may lead to such children hurting others in the name of self-defense. The habit of watching violent pictures will have less empathy towards others and such children may find it easy to hurt others. The United States of America has been affected by this, and it has been established that average American children will see over 200,000 violent movies and 16,000 murders, and this explains why there have been cases of youths murdering their friends because they no longer fear to kill because its already engraved in the character trait (Patterson 54).

    Some TV programs aired by several media houses send the wrong message to growing children about the world they reside. In such cases, such TV programs will be traumatizing to children, and this means such children will grow with a wrong notion concerning the world. Violent programs will create the notion to a child that the world is a place where no one values human life, and this may make the child hate everything about the world. In such cases, some children will have scary dreams making their lives uncomfortable. Such children will withdraw from friends and at times will not be willing to go to school because their life is founded on fear. Children at the age of seven years are found to be scared by some images portrayed by some TV stations. However, some of the images that scare children include grotesque monsters. It might not be easy to tell children under seven years that such images are real because they are not in a position to differentiate between real and fantasy images (Crockenberg 35).

     Watching television help in developing reading abilities of children but at times it can affect the performance of students in school. TV watching is known to take over the life of a child in a way that they may forgo other activities and be willing to watch TV programs. However, such children will not have enough time to revise for their exams, and this will make them fail in their exams. TV effects on child’s education are always felt in the long-term. Some TV programs are known to promote some stereotypes and thus will make children grow with the notion that discrimination is normal, and it happens to people. Through this such children may discriminate their friends shortly. Some TV programs may present cases where people from certain races are assumed to be inferior. If such child comes from the victimized race in the movie they may hate themselves and feel not appreciated though it is happening in the movie. Some TV programs present women as weak and naïve, and this may affect a growing baby girl where they will always feel weak when working or associating with male friends.  Overweight may be a problem faced by children who love their TV more than exercise, and this may lead to cases of obesity.  At times, some TV programs may provoke children to kill themselves. After watching some TV programs, children may want to mimic things they saw happening in the movie they were watching, and this may cause injuries. Children injure themselves as they try to mimic some dangerous stunts they saw on a given TV program. These children will mimic these stunts do not know that they are fiction and a major injury realized from such cases may lead to cases of death. In developing nations, it has been found that alcohol is advertised on several TV stations, and this may influence a growing child to think that alcohol is great to drink that can relief someone from any form of stress. After such adverts growing children may decide that once they grow up they will be taking beer or even smoke. In other movies, some actors act as smokers, and this may influence a child who may want to inherit the person in the movie; children admire individuals acting movies and other TV program meaning they can take everything done by the actor and start doing them. In the modern society, most of the media houses are known to bring in more programs that are influenced by the topic of sex. When exposed to such programs some children may find themselves messed up shortly. This may lead to cases of unwanted pregnancies, and in extreme cases they made themselves infected with HIV/Aids and other STDs that may terminate their lives prematurely (Crockenberg 45).

Conclusion

    Child development has been said to be crucial for every child. The rate of child development in children varies from one child to another. However, these stages are highly influenced by what children see or hear as they grow. Television can affect child development both positively or negatively. This means parents must be ready to monitor their children at every stage of their development. Children are affected by different things depending on their age. Television has been found to have the great impact on child development. According to research conducted in Australia, it was established that children will be willing to watch television more than any other thing they do as long as they are awake. Television helps children in developing their cognitive skills in many ways. Cognitive development refers to how a person can perceive, reason, and comprehends the world they dwell.  These qualities are vital to a growing child because it will of a great idea when children understand everything about the world they live. Cognitive developments help children in information processing, intelligence, and reasoning. However, well-developed cognitive skills help children in language development, and this can be acquired from watching the images portrayed in televisions. After a child is born, they become aggressive in a way that they want to explore the world they have been welcomed. When children are at the age of 6-12 years, they tend to be willing to learn more about the world the reside. However, children at the age of seven are in a position to follow up events, and this means such children can pay attention to events. This is the most sensitive stages of development because at this stage can watch and apply what they have seen in a TV program. At this age, parents are expected to be the best coaches of their children by encouraging them to become anything they dream about. Through several TV programs, children can be exposed to the political and social world, and this helps then in connecting with the real world. Children can understand what happens in the political world, and this will motivate some children as they grow because at least they are connected to great personalities.

    Other TV programs air out some programs that discuss different topics concerning success in different fields. This will help children who watch such programs to understand what is expected of them if at all they are willing to be among the most successful personalities in the future. Children who watch television regularly are found to be good when socializing with their friends something that is opposite with children who don’t watch television regularly. However, there are some challenges and problems affecting the development of children. It has been established that many children learn more about sex from some TV programs.  When children are exposed to sex at early stages, this can affect their lives negatively where unwanted pregnancies can be realized. Some TV channel advertises some alcohol brands, and this lies to children that alcohol can be the best way of dealing with stress. Wrong information will always misguide children as they undergo development and, in the long run, the effect will be felt. Children who watch violent TV programs are vulnerable to become violent shortly. Some TV programs affect children emotionally especially in cases where these TV programs are based on stereotypes. There are some TV programs that portray women as weak and naïve characters; such programs will intimidate small girls who may be watching them. There are other programs that portray the world as a place of violence. When children grow with the notion that there is nothing to enjoy in the world they may grow up discouraged and not willing to associate with age mates. TV stations may indicate that violence is good because the character in the movies who are violent are treated as heroes. Such cases will motivate some children to embrace violence, and this will affect their lives in the long run.

Work Cited

Crockenberg, S. (2008). The Effects of early social-emotional and relationship experience on the development of young orphanage children. Boston, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell.

Patterson, C. (2008). Child development. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Salkind, N. (2002). Child development. New York: Macmillan Reference USA.

Singer, D. (2001). Handbook of children and the media. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications