The media industries have been on the verge of criticism for their negative effects on children. With respect to children, we highlight the significance, importance, and meaning of substance in mediating the impact of television on academic attainment and cognitive skills. In the current humankind we have permitted the media as the most important touch of influence. The media has become the most commanding, powerful, and influential tool. Regrettably, it does not at all times teach constructive lessons to our kids. It provides a chance for kids to distort veracity into erroneous belief by use of sources, such as television together with several electrical gadgets considered essential. Today, media has become so powerful to a degree of even becoming the alternative parent of the children (Roberts et al., 2005). A child refers to a young person (a girl or a boy) between the ages of birth to puberty. Media is defined as various means of communication, for instance, radio, television, and newspapers plus other different varieties of public information delivery.

Exposure

Young kids of the age between zero and six spend an average of about two hours daily utilizing media screens (movies, computer, and televisions). Televisions are as well usually available in kids bedrooms, with infants (19%), 2-3years old (9%), 4 to 6 years old (43%), and 68% of kids eight years and above having a television in their personal bedrooms (Roberts et al., 2005). Therefore, children’s exposure to television has enormously amplified in the recent years. Several researches have established an informal connection between exposure to aggression on television and the aggressive conduct in children. Other study has indicated the connection between kids’ media use and obesity, deterioration in academic achievement, increased isolation, and possible exposure to racial and gender stereotypes, amongst other issues. A number of studies have discovered that parents do not restrict their kids’ media utilization, and that they underrate the time their children spend watching television (Abell, 2001).

Negative Impacts That Television Has On Young Children

Children are affected psychological as the portion of the brain called basal ganglia tends to become too active when an individual watches television. This makes the body to respond by producing dopamine chemical and as more of this chemical dopamine is released, very less neurotransmitters remain available to do any other function of the body (Nicely, 2006). Awkward cartoons impact negatively on the children, these children are incapable of responding unconsciously to these cartoons, and children who watch aggressive cartoons show decreases in self regulation measure (Gentile and Walsh, 2002). Again, children who watch aggressive cartoons with a lot of aggression can possible engage in violent behavior than those children who do not. For instance a child surprises his family by unexpectedly expressing hostility and fear to ‘black people’ immediately after watching this scene in cartoon together with his family, describing the scene as frightening where a black slave was constantly whipped. He therefore, concluded that an individual must have been a very dreadful person to be ruthlessly punished, thereby becoming very scary. He judged him exclusively by the most obvious characteristics in the scene that made his pain contored face and dark skin, appear scary and evil at the same time (Abell, 2001).

Television advertisements teach children to become consumers even before reaching the age of three, a study was carried out and revealed that the longer time a kid spends viewing television programs, the more frequently they ask their parents to purchase them products they have seen on the commercial advertisement. Commercial adverts found in television and other electrical media, such as music videos, print, movies, internet, and computer games, describe how safe it is to utilize tobacco products, promote consumption of other unhealthy foods as well as sanitizing violence (Nicely, 2006). Therefore television advertising has a great effect on current children, ranging from logos, songs, to characters. Advertisers always keep in mind their target market. Scramble for competitive market advantage causes the advertiser to target children, whereas the effect may be a problem to most of adults, the impact of the similar information to children is far reaching and quite devastating (Gentile et al., 2004). Television adverting has a number of ways to entice the individual to buy their services and products. The companies involved in advertising do surround a particular target market, such as children, thereby sinking their teeth into the children’s minds. This in turn makes the children manipulative thus developing a desire for their services or products. Via television, magazine, and cartoons children are manipulated by masked, concealed, and obscured messages, where they are shown how a particular product can advance their class by making them be envied by all their peers (Gentile and Walsh, 2002).

Children who watch horror shows and movies may perhaps encompass psychological or emotional problems, younger children as well as toddlers who often watch horror movies, involving violent films and television shows are most likely to develop sleep disorders, aggressiveness, anxiety, and self endangering behaviors. Female and male representation in a certain television program or a video game can send destructing information to both girls and boys (Gentile et al., 2004) Where boys may attempt to achieve the masculine concept that is presented in the program, such as wrestling, as a result there self actualization and esteem will affected when they will be incapable of attaining the idea in the subsequent program. Furthermore, women are taught that gender demand is treasured above all given the unrestrained objectification of feminine characters in the game or a program (Barkham, 2009). These television programs and games will make the boy to develop unattainable expectations for females and even learn that it is widely acceptable to treat a girl, a woman, or a female in a disrespectfully way. At the same moment, learning how to link muscles and violence with what it takes to be man. Television, magazines, music videos, and video games contain harmful impact. The way girls are portrayed in the media can result into lack of self confidence with their bodies, depression, as well as eating disorders. These images also impact negatively on the healthy growth of girls (Murray, 2008).

Much of television watching for children of all age group impact negatively on their readiness for school and academic achievement, low reading ability, vocabularies, and poor grades are highly associated with much of television intake by kids. In addition to multi tasking and media usage, this may possibly contribute to children paying less devoted concentration to their school work (Ehsan et al., 2008). For instance, a study carried out in New Zealand indicated that television watching adolescence and childhood is linked to poor academic performance by the age of twelve. That is why several experts have said that for academic progress and success of your kid television set must be turned off.

Childhood obesity is yet another trouble associated with television, this because food adverts are shown after every five minutes thereby exposing children to junk food with every clack of a television remote (Barkham, 2009). This manipulation is quite clear however exceedingly rewarding. Children with overweight conditions have tripled since 1960. This condition is almost becoming an epidemic especially in developed countries, such as the United States of America. The unfortunate thing is that 80% of these overweight children and adolescents will remain with similar condition even in the adulthood (Media Awareness Network, 2009). Television also exposes each and everything to young children, the programs in television can show kids information or programs what their parents may possibly never wanted them know. An example of these television shows is ‘Father Knows Best’ in this show young kids perhaps let in enormous secret meant for adults or their parents (Media Awareness Network, 2009).