Handle Effect Of Television On Children

By Priya Devi

on January 19, 2011

Yesterday, while browsing through the television I landed on a daily soap which showed how the mother-in-law mixed poison in her daughter-in-law's milk in order to kill her. My nephew was also present there watching it. At night before going off to bed while my sister was forcing him to drink his glass of milk, he mixed some talcum powder in her glass of milk and said, “mamma it have put poison in your milk. If you force me to drink the milk, I will make you drink this poison".

My friends keep telling me these stories about how their children are influenced by daily soaps. Daily soaps have now become a live picture of the Indian society and debate on whether the picture is true or not is the hot topic. If we look at a wider aspect, it's the effect of television on children. From just making them westernised, it has now gone to the extent of effecting them emotionally and also building up their ideas of the society. After listening to all the stories of my friends and the effect of television on children, here are some solutions I came up with.

How to prevent effect of television on children -

1.Restrict Television Shows – If children today are getting effects due to daily soaps and television shows, parents are to be blamed for it. To stop the affect and proper building up of their personality, it is best to restrict their access to television. The fact that television is a source of learning cannot be denied. Thus, allows him shows which are good for his growth.

2.Explain Him Television Content – Most of the time due to immature understanding, children may inherit the negative side of a show. Thus, it is important on the part of the parent to explain him the situation so that he can view right aspect of the show.

3.Declare A TV Time – Make the child used to TV time of the day. He should not be missing it during the day. Not make him habituated. Habit is a bad thing. Only if you declare a television time, will he accept it.

4.Grow With Time – Another way to handle the effect of television on children is to help him grow from one show to the other. As he grows up, you can allow him to watch some shows which were previously restricted. He needs to be at power with time and so, as he matures he is prepared to take in whatever is being showed.

5.Discuss Television Shows – One of the best way is to discuss the shows with the children. It is very true for teenagers. This is the time when they are building up their decisions about the society and thus, they take in everything which they see. Thus, discussion is important to understand their thought and to work towards it.

Try these five ways to handle the effect on television on children and watch the changes. It incorporate these changes, you might have to t down on some daily soaps yourself but then it's worth it.