Young childrens exposure to electronic media

The paper ” Young Children’s Exposure to Electronic Media” is a worthy example of an essay on social sciOverexposurexposure to television, video games and other electronic media give a negative effect on the children’s behavior, physical and emotional health, academic skills and social development. Statistics show that children who always sit in front of the TV set or game console are prone to obesity since they lack physical exercise. Moreover, they are likely to be undernourished because they are the target of advertised food which is poor in nutritional value (AAP, 1999). The violence shown on TV and on other electronic media is dangerous to the children’s behavior since they, if not guided accordingly, imitate what they see ( AAP, 2001). Programs on TV that glamorize drinking and smoking send the wrong message to children that these habits are normal, therefore they tend to do it (AAP, 1999). Studies also show that children who always watch television have inferior educational skills (Wright, 2001). Attention-problem is also high among children who spent many hours in front of television daily ( Christakis, 2004). Although the statistics are quite alarming, parents and guardians should not totally deny electronic media to young children but, rather limit their (children) time with it per day. The children’s access to electronic media should be regulated. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the adults to 1) remove television and other electronic media from the room of the child, 2) reprimand children younger than 2 years old from watching too much television, 3) guide them when watching TV, 4) watch and discuss the content of the program with the children and 5) encourage children to indulge into alternative entertainment (i. e. reading and athletics). It’s not easy actually to differentiate electronic media by identifying which is better and which is not. They all can contribute negative effects to the young patrons. However, studies show that the most influential is the television since it is the most accessible to the children and the easiest to operate. In the US, 35% of American children are living in homes where televisions are always on most of the time daily ( Vandewater, Bickham, et al., 2005).