Television has played a major role in most family households. Although television as been around for over half a century, it has now become a part of most children's everyday lives. They have began to turn to television for their main source of entertainment. To many parents, television is an educational device for their children. On the other hand, others despise of their children watching television. They believe that it is very time consuming and has too much violence. Parents may have different opinions, but who's to say, who's right and who's wrong? .
Television has been proven to educate many children. For some children, television serves as a teacher when class has been let out. Some programs speak to them in ways they can understand about topics that are important to them. Also, good programs encourage children to explore their feelings, learn about their world, and increase their competence and self-worth. For most younger kids, television shows such as, Barney, Sesame Street, and Reading Rainbow serve as a learning guide before they enter school. These shows teach them read, count, distinguish colors, and even interact with others. As they grow older, it teaches some good life lessons.
Television is known to be something that is very time consuming. It is said that children spend between six and seven hours watching television each day. Where does this leave time for studying, eating properly, or getting enough rest? Instead of going home and finishing their homework, most run straight to the television, and instead of eating a healthy meal, they would rather have snacks. Although parents continue to believe that this all may be un-healthy for their children, they allow it because their children are "happy". .
Violent acts are smothered all over the television world. Some of the violence will be seen on "realistic" programs and some will even be seen on cartoons.