Role of Television in Child Development
Child development is not a unidimensional aspect of human development. There are several characteristics which depict the state of child development. Prominent among them include speed and pattern of development, mechanisms of developmental change, population differences, individual differences, motor development, cognitive development, emotional development, social development, language development and so on. The scholars have brought all these aspect of child development under ‘developmental psychology’ which refers to development of human beings throughout their lifespan. Child development broadly constitutes the overall development of children.
The role of television in child development is widely debated all over the world since the decade of 1950s. Several commissions and individuals have examined the effects of television programmes and commercials on particular segments of global population, specifically children. A substantial amount of research has been carried out in order to develop a considerable body of knowledge concerning the role of television in child development. McLuhan (2016) observes: “we need to know more about what elements in the television programmes influence children’s personality and what preventive measures are effective in molding the personality of children in future since television cultivates forms of thought that are fundamentally different from those used in processing print or some other media”.
Van Evra (2014) conducted an intensive and extensive review of major studies about television and child development by both communication scholars and developmental child psychologists. She also pointed out that moderate viewing of television programmes would help develop the communication skills of children from technological innovations such as VCRs, cable, home videos, video games, computers, etc. had new influences in the lives of children. Scholars have also recognized that television enabled the children to learn certain pro-social behaviors. The uses and gratifications theory also pointed out that heavy television viewing resulted in a more serious effort to derive information and knowledge from what was viewed by the audiences.
Edgar and Edgar (2008) observe: “television programmes can stimulate a child’s imagination and open up the infinite opportunities that life presents. Like good books, good television programmes can extend children’s understanding of their world. Children will watch good programs repeatedly and keep watching them as they grow older, learning different things each time because they can engage with quality in increasingly sophisticated. Good children’s television comprises programs made especially for children that reflect the complexity of the emotional changes within the age group and honestly deal with conflicts that such diversity demonstrates. Technology makes it possible to design programs that are not only appropriate to a particular age group, but also to different developmental level within that age group. Good programming can teach the children valuable lessons about living in community”.
Television has also become a prominent educational medium since it uses a language or a symbol system which differs in many ways from other communications media. It conveys more experiential meanings and provides useful educational packages to the children. The television programmes have the capacity to facilitate cognitive development in children if they are produced and broadcast in accordance with the specific needs of the children. Studies have revealed that children learn certain behavioral patterns through television programmes which are carefully planned, designed and broadcast to improve cognitive development of children. Investigations have also a revealed that television programmes have produced positive and negative effects on children.
Heather et.al. (2018) comment: “although research clearly demonstrates that well-designed, age appropriate, educational television can be beneficial to children of preschool age, studies on infants and toddlers suggest that these young children may better understand and learn from real-life experiences than they do from video. Early exposure to age appropriate programmes designed around an educational curriculum is associated with cognitive and academic enhancement, whereas exposure to pure entertainment, and violent content in particular, is associated with poorer cognitive development and lower academic achievement. Research on children’s television viewing can inform guidelines for producers of children’s media to enhance learning”.
Researchers have provided information on the role of television in the development of cognitive skills of children who become active media users after 3 years.
Anderson et al. (2015) asserted Educational programmes are positively associated with overall measures of achievement and with potentially long-lasting effects. Harris and Williams (2015) reported a positive association between achievement and computer and Internet use at home. Fisch (2010) has suggested that producers integrate narrative and educational contents as much as possible in order to maximize the cognitive resources available to children