Children and television

The issue, that television is good for children, is highly controversial, that has stirred significant debate in recent years. On the one hand, the proponents of television claim that it is good for children, but, on the other hand, its opponents believe that it is detrimental for minors. The truth is somewhere in the middle as television is not negative per se, but analyzing its content it is compelling that has at the same time positive and negative characteristics.  
The truth is that children are not passive recipients of media messages. They do interact intellectually and critically with the media. As they grow up, children begin to differentiate between fantasy and reality and begin to develop critical ways of evaluating messages over the media.  Additionally, the technological development is used also for the benefit of children, for their entertainment or educational reasons.  For instance, television can hone their imagination, cultivate their skills or enhance their vocabulary. . To put it, in a nutshell, TV5 Monde offers a new program “Apprendre le francais avec TV5 Monde” and children can ameliorate by this way their French easily. 

On the contrary, television is one of the most favorite activities since 1960’s and it is of paramount importance to examine its impact on children, More specifically, as  Buckingham (1996) noticed children spend more time at home watching television than studying or any other extra- curricular activity. Therefore, a specific attention should be given to children, who are a large subgroup of the television audience.However, Guersney L. (2012) underlines that scientists analyzing media’s impact on children they garbled in translation because they based on flimsy sources. She proposes that parents and educators must acknowledge the importance of media in their lives and assess their choices. Overall the various hypotheses about the effects of media violence remain as public concerns which receive a little empirical support. In addition to, Heike vom Orde (2012) claimed that only some products are ideal for children. Moreover, the American Academy of Pediatrics report (2011) rings the bell of danger because according to its researchers and data the educational value of television for children under two years old is unproven.  What is of paramount importance is that TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment)  organization which is constituted from educators, try to reduce the harmful impact of media and marketing on children and trigger the public opinion. According to,  their campaign: “Facing the Screen Dilemma: Young Children, Technology and Early Education”(October 2012),  preschoolers spend on average with screen media range from at least 2.2 hours to as much as 4.6 hours per day. 
It is believed that television has a plea of negative effects.The main problem still remains the same regarding who should decide what it is or is not appropriate for children.  Child’s right to information was the main subject of the “Children and Television World Summit”,  which indicates that child’s programming is not only a national but also an international and educational issue and parents or educators should hand this with this sensitive problem seriously starting a long-needed discussion on television.