Children and Television

The television will always be part of the Pinoy household. Children get captivated by the images they see on screen. As they sit for hours watching TV, we wish they would be as attentive when they have to listen to their teacher or when they're doing homework.

An article titled "Making TV Child Friendly" (Aguilar, 2008) notes than "on the average, Filipino children spends five hours a day in front of the television, more the time consumed in going to school." In another article -- "Filipino Children Less Physically Active" (Guirindola, 2006), the results of the study conducted by the the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) to know the physical activity of 9-12 year-old Filipino schoolchildren from public and private elementary schools were highlighted.

It was further revealed that greater proportion of children performed sedentary activities. During weekdays, watching TV, VCD, VHS and DVD was the usual activity after school. While on weekends, playing video games and watching TV three to four times were noted.

The result of this study, showing that Filipino children are less physically active, needs immediate action.

The following information were collected to guide us in developing good TV habits.

Two of Kids Health articles, How T.V. Affects Your Child and Healthy Habits for TV, Video Games, and the Internet emphasized that ...

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that older kids not watch more than 1–2 hours of TV or video per day, and that kids under age 2 not watch any television. They also recommend that the shows children watch be nonviolent and educational. Above all, TV shouldn't be a substitute for activities like playing, exercising, or reading.

Researching further, we read through AAP Policy Statement: Children, Adolescents, and Television which describes the possible negative health effects of television viewing on children and adolescents, such as violent or aggressive behavior, substance use, sexual activity, obesity, poor body image, and decreased school performance. Their list of recommendations include:

Pediatricians should recommend the following guidelines for parents:

1. Limit children's total media time (with entertainment media) to no more than 1 to 2 hours of quality programming per day.
2. Remove television sets from children's bedrooms.
3. Discourage television viewing for children younger than 2 years, and encourage more interactive activities that will promote proper brain development, such as talking, playing, singing, and reading together.
4. Monitor the shows children and adolescents are viewing. Most programs should be informational, educational, and nonviolent.
5. View television programs along with children, and discuss the content. Two recent surveys involving a total of nearly 1500 parents found that less than half of parents reported always watching television with their children.
6. Use controversial programming as a stepping-off point to initiate discussions about family values, violence, sex and sexuality, and drugs.
7. Use the videocassette recorder wisely to show or record high-quality, educational programming for children.
8. Support efforts to establish comprehensive media-education programs in schools.
9. Encourage alternative entertainment for children, including reading, athletics, hobbies, and creative play.

The American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry also provides "facts for families" such as Children And Watching TV and Children And TV Violence.

Lastly, Healthy Kids (Australia) has a fact sheet titled "Reducing Television Time."And yes, it has a Filipino version.

Related Posts by Categories