The Amount of Media Children Consume:.
There are many types of media children consume in this day and age. There is television, the Internet, computer and video games, newspapers, magazines, movies, videos, and music. Media is used for several reasons including: entertainment, research, news, and learning tools. Parents often find it very easy to use media as an electronic babysitter, especially when it is hard for them to hire a real babysitter. Although media is often used for good reasons, many bad things can come from it, and parents should put a limit on how much media their children consume, as well as keeping an eye on what type of media they are consuming.
Television can be used to communicate something educational to children in an entertaining manner. There are several programs that can stimulate the imaginations of children, such as Barney, Sesame Street, and Bill Nye. These programs can have a favorable impact on the child's development. Television can also be used for good, clean fun. Cartoons are an example of something that is not harmful for children to watch. There are many shows meant for children that do not direct violent or harmful messages to children, but there are some shows that direct children toward violence and rude behavior.
Many things that children watch on television can be harmful to them. Not physically, but psychologically. For example, a five-year-old boy set his family's mobile home on fire, killing his two-year-old sister. His mother blamed this on the controversial TV show, Beavis and Butt-head, which featured a character who was obsessed with fire, often playing with matches and committing arson. Several young men were run over in different incidents, after imitating a scene from the movie The Program, in which a drunken athlete shows off by lying in the middle of the road.# Another big hit with children is the MTV show Jackass. There are several shows that children watch and try to copy the outrageous stunts performed on them.