Children spend more time watching television than any other activity except sleeping.
Children between the ages of 3 and 5 are at a critical stage in brain development for the development of language and other cognitive skills. The extent to which heavy television viewing can influence the development of brain neural networks, and displaces time the child would spend in other activities and verbal interactions, influences early cognitive development. Most children need frequent practice of reading skills before reading becomes a pleasure. Patterns set in the early pre-school years with regard to television viewing can snowball as the child gets older and school work becomes harder. Children who watched informative, educational television as a pre-schooler, watch more informative television as they get older and use television as a complement to school.