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Search forThe positive side of our television culture
Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 08:00
It turns them into couch potatoes and delinquents; it affects their schooling and makes them sexually precocious.
But haven't we all at some time been pleasantly surprised at what a youngster has gleaned from the screen?
Television can either numb young minds or expand them. I believe children usually learn more when watching with adults, whether at home or at school. A parent can channel ideas; a programme can often be a starting point for an informal discussion.
Our soaps, for example, might focus attention on teenage friendships, our news could lead to an understanding of what is going on in our world.
Side-by-side viewing goes beyond such discussions.
Children's attitudes and social cues – such as when to laugh – are formed by observing their parent's reactions.
Your scepticism about commercials, for instance, could help your offspring grow into shrewd consumers.
There are wonderful interesting programmes, whether on network, satellite or cable TV, that can open windows on distant worlds for our children and can step back in time.
Go to the bottom of the sea, visit elephants in Africa and tigers in India. A youngster with a television set can sit in on a House of Commons debate, or attend the Remembrance Sunday service.
I believe our children can profit greatly from the right programmes on television, they just need your help.
We can guide our children to make sensible choices, but we need to let them develop their tastes and trust them a bit, too. It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
D F Courtney Weston-super-Mare Somerset
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