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Home › Articles › Kid Connections › Children and the Mass Media

Children and the Mass Media

How Setting Limits Will Benefit Your Children

By Greg Taillon

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The Effects of Excess
Since television entered the home in the 1950s, violence in the media and in the classroom has skyrocketed. Public school teachers often spend more time dealing with discipline issues than teaching due to student violence and bad behavior. Could mass media be the reason? Television programs are full of sexually explicit content and violence, as are many music videos and video games. The reason is that "violence and sex sells." But repeated exposure to violent media content can have drastic repercussions. The television news is full of stories of kids re-creating violent acts they saw on TV.

In addition to violent behavior, excessive media consumption can lead to other problems. ADHD, or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, is on the rise today, and too much television viewing could be a culprit. A team of researchers headed by Dr. Dimitri Christakis at the Children's Hospital in Seattle found that television exposure at age 1 to 3 leads to attention problems by age 7. Research published in the journal Pediatrics indicates that every hour of watching TV increases children's odds of having attention problems by about 10 percent (Elias, 2004). Fast television and scene changing may contribute to shortened attention spans among children.

This creates problems with slower-paced tasks, especially reading. This shortened attention span, often accompanied by behavioral problems, frequently results in children either being placed in special education classes or being medically treated.

Obesity is another side effect of television. Sixty-four percent of Americans are overweight or obese, including nine million children. Eating habits developed in childhood continue through a lifetime. The top triangle of the USDA's food pyramid dispays the foods that are recommended to be used sparingly. These foods are the ones that are most heavily advertised on television, radio and in print. They are also heavily marketed toward children. For example, children are exposed to 150 to 200 hours worth of television commercials a year, many of them advertisements for "junk" food and fast food. A study conducted in December of 2003 reported in the journal Pediatrics


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