What Your Kids Are Watching......

Whether we like it or not media is an integral part of children's lives today. There is so much influence of media in our everyday lives that it is hard to not have kids exposed to television, internet and video games. It is believed that American children on an average spend four to five hours every day on some form of electronic media which includes watching TV, being on the internet and playing video games. Today media unarguably plays a role in kid’s development; and its influence could be both favorable and unfavorable. In comparison to the favorable influencing, it’s the unfavorable part that concerns most parents today. Due to the negative effects of exposure to violent TV programming and video games; parents continue to express their disgust over its influence on young minds. 

While studies have proved that all media including television, video games, computers and the Internet, especially when the contents are violent is harmful. But at the same time it is unimaginable to not have kids exposed to it at all. The analysts have divided opinion on as to how many hours of TV watching is appropriate; many profess no exposure while others assert only a few hours a week. In fact, in a fast paced digital age today where new technology and gadgets come to market an on almost daily basis, more than ever there is a need for constant research to understand the impact of new technological innovations and their influence on young minds. There could be numerous topics and categories of research which could and should be done when it comes to children and electronic media. For example, considering the popularity and easy accessibility of mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones along with the numerous kids friendly apps available on these devices; the question is, if the old school thought of not exposing kids to electronic media until age 5 or later, still valid. It is important to learn, how much exposure kids need to have in  different age groups to various different devices? And not just to device itself, but also exposure to a specific type of content (games, apps, videos, etc.) also needs to be researched as different type of content can have an entirely different impact. Considering that kids today are exposed to every device which comes to market, what is the right time for parents to allow kids to either have access or ownership of these devices? What kind of parental control or restrictions are good to have and/or are justified and what is not. When any company or manufacturer comes up with new technology or electronic media, in most cases they have already had spent time researching the target market, but they may also need to spend time and resources on understanding the impact to children and these studies be published; and thus society/parents need to be aware of it to make an informed decisions.