Television's Negative Impact on the Development of the Brain
Television viewing significantly affects the development of a child's brain, especially the brains of younger children (i.e. toddlers). Television viewing develops certain areas of the brain, while other activities such as reading, coloring, talking, and playing develop other areas of the brain. The television provides only one type of stimulus, while other traditional children and parent/children activities provide a plethora of stimuli that develop the brain as a whole, rather than just one particular aspect of the brain.
The sensory development of children generally occurs by the age of 12 months. The various sensory areas of the brain involve sight, hearing, sense of wonder, which are all adversely affected by television viewing, especially excessive television viewing.
Often, infant and toddler's playing seem nonsensical and almost purely imitational; however, this type of play is extremely important for the developing child. All young children learn through early exploration and "play," developing various types of skills, such as eye-hand coordination and early communication (through mimcry). This type of learning stimulates the corresponding parts of the developing brain, establishing and strengthening the synapses, or "wiring" in the brain (if left unstimulated, these synapses will eventually atrophy and remain undeveloped throughout life). The skills acquired during the formative years of a child's life helps to determine the success of the child in the future, perhaps even affecting the IQ of the child. According to a study conducted by Michael Morgan and Larry Gross of the University of Pennsylvania (Annenberg School of Communications), "heavy viewers (i.e., who watched more than six hours a day) [of television] were more likely to have low IQ's than those who were light viewers (two hours or less a day)." (Moody, 37-38) Despite the plethora of studies establishing a relationship between television viewing, especially excessive television viewing, and limited neural development, myriad parents still allow their children to watch an extreme amount of television each day.
The most influenced audience by the television is obviously the youngest viewers, who's development is not yet complete. The television clearly impacts their development negatively, yet the television industry and the leaders of today still praise the virtues of television. The question that must be asked is, Are the benefits of television viewing outweighing the detriments (of television viewing)? Based on historical data, research and plain observation, the answer is evidently NO!