TV Makes Kids Isolated, Aggressive
TV Makes Kids Isolated, Aggressive
Sept. 13, 2002 -- Here's proof of something we've all suspected -- TV viewing has a negative effect on kids. However, it's not just violent programs that are to blame.
The sheer number of hours spent inactive and isolated have their own effects on a child's development, researchers say.
The amount of TV a child watches directly affects social skills and school performance, reports Elif Ozmert, MD, PhD, researcher with the Institute of Child Health at Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. In Turkey, TV programs contain just as much violence as they do in the U.S.
His study appears in the September Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
Researchers asked parents of close to 900 second- and third-graders -- from both high-and low-income families -- to assess the number of hours their children watched TV each day. They also asked a representative sample of parents to keep diaries chronicling the viewing.
In addition, the parents completed a questionnaire asking about a variety of behavioral problems in their children.
Those kids who watched more than two hours of TV a day were more withdrawn, had social and attention problems, were delinquent, and were more aggressive. The results were even more striking for kids who watched more than four hours of TV a day.
While program content is somewhat to blame, it's likely not the entire story, says Ozmert. The inactivity and social isolation while watching so much TV alone may have contributed to increased aggression, he says.
Also, school performance was affected by too much TV viewing. Kids in the 2 hours-plus group had worse attention problems at school than other kids.
"The results of our study and others are not enough to blame television for causing conduct disorder or other psychological problems, but they are serious enough to consider television watching as a risk factor for behavioral problems and to suggest that physicians consider their patients' television viewing habits," Ozmert writes.