Negative Impact of Television on Children and Youths

Categories: Influence Of Television On Children Negative Effects Of Television Television

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Every person has one thing in common and that is ownership of a television. Whether it be the local news, reality shows or horror movies, the amount of media content people consume has gone up tremendously in the last few years. Younger audiences have access to movies and shows hat adults have and this can cause some issues to arise. Firstly, every actor in television is under-weight which can negatively affect youth’s body image. Next, the shows that children watch are often intended for much older viewers and contain graphic or adult content, which can be harmful.

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Parents should monitor the television shows children are watching so they can respond accordingly.

Watching television at a young age can impact the way children perceive themselves, specifically their physical appearance. Under-weight women take up every role in television shows and there is very little representation of average or above-weight women. Only 5% of women on sitcoms are overweight (“Body Image - Film and TV”).

If heavier characters ever show up, they usually receive negative comments about their looks and are made fun of. A study based on TV comedies found that 1 in 4 characters who are above average-weight are often portrayed as being unpopular and lonely.

Many other movie genres stress the idea that it is better to be underweight “by associating thinness with other desirable attributes such as wealth and desirability” (“Body Image - Film and TV”). Due to the negative attitude movies and television shows take towards women of different body types, youth often aspire to be “model thin” from a young age and can develop eating disorders (Heubeck).

Renee Hobbs, a pediatrician from the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh noticed that after her team created a website where adolescents can create their own celebrity images, “the majority of girls who engage in this online activity make themselves over to appear thin, white, and blonde -- even girls whose appearance differs substantially from the ideal image” (Heubeck).

One in seven people have self-harmed or purposely hurt themselves because of issues with their body (Busby). Television increases body image issues in young children, which in turn impacts their mental health in a detrimental way. To fix this problem, parents need to “co-view” the television shows that youth are consuming. This allows them to talk about the “patterns of physical representation” that exist in the movie industry (Busby). By being there firsthand when children are taking in media content, parents can start a discussion about how body image is portrayed on television. Through pointing out healthy body-images and identifying all the negative factors of being underweight, it “deflates the image” of the skinny and ripped models that are seen on shows (Heubeck).

Showing youth how unrealistic these images are and helping them recognize that the bodies seen in movies are unattainable and modified to look that way will improve their self-esteem. Parents have a lot of influence on children’s self-image so by talking about what a healthy body really looks like, it can prevent any problems that might develop due to the portrayal of body image in television. Next, exposing young children to adult content can negatively influence them. The quality of the shows being watched by adolescents and preteens can shape their thinking significantly. A study published by the Mass Communication and Society journal stated:

Shows like ‘16 and Pregnant’ and ‘Teen Mom’ actually lead frequent viewers to believe -- unrealistically -- that young moms have a fairly high quality of life…more likely to think that teen mothers had an enviable quality of life, a decent income, and involved fathers. (Perry)

This makes any children or teenangers who are watching more relaxed about having sexual relations due to their positive perception of teen mothers’ lives. Since children are shown sexual content in television and movies, they end up being sexualized at a young age. Effects of overexposure to adult images include having early sex and high-risk sex. More than 66% of boys and 40% of girls have reported “wanting to try some of the sexual behaviors they saw in the media” (Ross). This increases chances of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

The media that children consume acts as a form of sex education. When television shows and movies depict sex as casual, free of consequences and without need of protection, it makes it normal to sexually experiment at a young age. Besides this, graphic content like violence and suicide also have a damaging result on the children watching. Images of accidents, earthquakes, murders and other violence that youth encounter through television, particularly the news, can cause them anxiety and fear.

Young children under the age of 8 are still learning the difference between reality and fantasy, so viewing violence on television can influence their behavior to become more aggressive. (“Making Sense of Senseless Media Violence”). Though watching violence will not make children murder someone, it does have an impact on their mindset and the way they behave around others. Prolonged viewing increases agreement with the idea that violence is an acceptable problem-solving method and reduces empathy. To reduce the impact of graphic content on children, parents need to take certain measures. Watching television with their children and using parental ratings to limit their exposure to adult images will help with this problem (Ross). When parents see their children taking in violence or inappropriate behaviors, they can teach them what is right and wrong in those scenes. Besides that, parents can make use of controls and ratings.

While they should not outright ban any show or movie, parents should wait before letting their children watch a violent movie and instead, watch it together so they can have a conversation about it after. To determine which movies are okay for children to view alone and which ones should be co-viewed, parents should make use of television ratings. These ratings help parents determine the “age-appropriateness” of a show and makes them aware of any violent or sexual content (Ross). By knowing what scenes are in a movie or show, parents can either skip it if it is too graphic or have an explanation ready when it comes. Overall, graphic content can have an unfavourable impact on young children but through the use of parental ratings, the effects can be minimized.

Knowing what children are watching on television is necessary for parents to decrease the negative impacts. A child’s body image and self-esteem can severely reduce if parents do not have a discussion about the beauty standards that are put out through movies and television shows. Viewing graphic content can affect a child’s behavior but through discussion and parental ratings, its effect can be lessened. Banning a movie or television show never works out because children always find a way around filters and it ends up driving them to watch the show. Everyone eventually gets exposed to this kind of content but it is more impactful at a young age when you are still forming opinions about yourself and the world. Being aware of what you are watching on television is important in today’s day and age when you have access to every form of media.