Difficulties with reading may result from excessive television viewing in young children, according to a recent media study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The study found that children from six months to six years old typically watch about two hours of television, video games, or computer each day. Within this age group, 34 percent of children ages four to six who live in a home where there is extensive television viewing can read, but 56 percent of children in this age group growing up in households with less TV watching can read.
According to Joanne Cantor, a professor emeritus for the University of Wisconsin, a large amount of viewing displaces other activities that allow children to learn.
“TV viewing tends to be passive and not involve the viewer actively in the learning process,” Cantor said. “This is especially important for very young children.”
Cantor went on to say that frequent TV watching could even promote anxieties, which then affect a child’s ability to concentrate and learn.
Rhode Island resident Scott Fertik is the parent of a six-year-old son and agrees that TV is harmful to his child’s development. Rather than placing his son in a public elementary school, Fertik sent his son Max to learn at the Waldorf School, a specialized school that promotes learning without the use of TV.
“Computers, TV, and videos all create a society of robotic human beings who are depending on these machines to learn and go about their everyday lives,” Fertik said. He believes that when children watch too much TV it can limit their imaginations and make them less enthusiastic about reading.
Fertik remains firm that this type of learning works well for his son. Max watches only a couple of hours of TV each month and currently has a passion and skill for reading. The few programs he watches are normally educational, although he watches an occasional sports event.
According to Cantor, not all TV programs will limit reading skills.
“Educational programs, whose first objective is to teach or to promote critical thinking, are often beneficial,” Cantor said. “Also, programs that have goals to teach social lessons can be valuable.”
“Sesame Street,” “Blues Clues,” and “Doug” are three popular kids programs Cantor believes to be beneficial.
According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research organization, family ownership of television is nearly universal. A 1996 study by the AGI found that on average, American families owned two to three color TV sets and one black and white set. The AGI also found that by the time they graduate from high school, American teenagers will have spent 15,000 hours in front of the TV and only 11,000 hours in formal classroom instruction. College students were reported to watch an average of 5.5 to eight hours of TV every weekday.
UW junior Anna Weedman believes that college students’ reading skills are already established and the amount of TV she watches does not affect her schoolwork negatively.
“I do wish I had read more as a child, though, because I might be more enthusiastic about reading now,” she said.
Instead of television, Weedman feels that other media outlets are worse distractions from reading.
“The real thing that distracts me from my school work isn’t watching ‘Friends’ or ‘The Bachelor’ every once in a while, but how easy it is to be distracted by my computer,” Weedman said.
From six-year-olds to college students, Cantor believes TVs, computers and videos are a large part of everyone’s lives.
“It affects all of us. It often interferes with the ability to get other things done and, depending on the choice of programs, particularly violent programs, may affect emotions negatively,” Cantor said.
