Is Television Viewing Harmful to Children?

Television Viewing: Are We Over-Reacting?
Into________Television viewing is not harmful to children
Television viewing is a source of education. Young children across the globe tune in to their favorite television shows and are learning valuable information. Children from the time that they are born are playing copycat from their care-givers. By mimicking those around them, the infant’s brain is absorbing information like a sponge and will learn how to read, write, and count because of this. By tuning in to an educational program stimulating enough for young minds to be involved in, this can help kids to learn numerous things by the time they are ready to enroll in kindergarten.
Now the question would be, what makes an educational program? A good many questions one would ask themselves is if the program asks questions and is active towards the audience (“MediaSmarts”; Boyse). By providing this with the audience at home, children can get that social interaction that is crucial for them to form friendships with other children and are more willing to participate in public activities at school. Another question one could ask themselves is if the program “represents gender and diversity” (“MediaSmarts”). Having an educational program that only speaks to a minority will only benefit the minority and would not provide that great of an educational experience to the majority. Having a more open-minded show gives children the chance to learn more about the world around them and of the varying cultures. In fact, there are many television programs that provide young children a good background of basic information. The most famous of all is Sesame Street. Being on the air for forty-six years straight, this show has provided preschoolers information from reading to how to catch a ball and still has enough time to let viewers have fun using their imagination and creativity with their favorite fluffy friends (Fisch).   Another example of a good educational show is Dora the...