The effects of television may be stronger on children who have experience with real violence, such as children who live in poverty or who have been abused or neglected. The effects of television violence on children can have a serious impact on school, on play and on home life. Television has positive effects on children too, and is good at getting pro-social messages across The more children watch, the bigger the effects of watching. The more children talk and think about what they see on the screen, the less TV affects them. Children learn nonviolent ways to handle problems from adults who watch TV with them and who suggest other ways of solving problems.
Television affects children's health, their physical fitness and nutrition.
Kids who watch a lot of television are less physically fit. Children are more likely to choose foods they see in television commercials and that means their choices are not very healthy. For You and Your Family, which has suggestions for evaluating and managing the use of television in your home, as well as activities to do with children. We highly recommend that you send for one or suggest your parent association do so. If you decide that television is a problem in your household, you as a family need to decide what actions to take.