We live in a media world and the mass media offers educational and entertainment opportunities for both adults and children. Television is one of the most prevalent media influences in kids’ lives. How much impact TV has on children depends on many factors: how much they watch, their age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their parents talk with them about what they see on TV.
In a society like ours TV has become essential in every single house. TV is considered as source of entertainment but in present scenario it has become a strong medium of negative behavior prevailed in children of our society.
Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming on TV affects children and young people. While a direct “cause and effect” link is difficult to establish, there is a growing consensus that some children may be vulnerable to violent images and messages.
Constant sitting in front of TV causes several health issues to innocent children like loss of eyesight, headache etc. It is also revealed that the children who consistently spend more than four hours a day watching the television, are more likely to be overweight, which is one of the ill-effects of TV.
It is the prime responsibility of parents to pay close attention to what their children see on TV since studies have shown that kids are more afraid of violence in news coverage or any other violent programme than in any other media content. Fear based on real news events increases as children get older and are better able to distinguish fantasy from reality. I request the government to ensure parental control on every TV channel. In this way we can save our children today to brighten our future.
SAHIBA IRFAN KHAN
Lahore
