Articles

TV makes toddlers aggressive

Published by TV Explore on November 10, 2009

The more television that a three-year-old watches, the more likely he or she is to behave aggressively, according to an American study.
Even having the television on in the background was linked to aggressive behavior, the research found.

“Parents should be smart about TV use,” researcher Jennifer Manganello from the University at Albany, State University of New York, said.
“They should limit the time that children use TV, pay attention to the content of TV programs, and consider how TV is used throughout the home.”

The study looked at 3,128 women from 20 US cities who had a child between 1998 and 2000. While there was some diversity of education among the study participants, one-third hadn’t graduated from high school.
Two-thirds of the mothers said their three-year-old watched more than two hours of television each day, and the average viewing time for children was around three hours. On average, the television was on for about five additional hours on a typical day.

After accounting for factors known to be associated with aggressive behavior, such as living in a violent neighborhood or having a mother who suffers from depression, television watching and household television time were both still significantly associated with aggressive behavior, such as hitting others, having angry moods, being disobedient, and screaming a lot.
There are a number of ways that excessive viewing could contribute to a child’s degree of aggressive behavior, the researchers said.

Children may see violence on television, and time spent watching the box may mean less time for behaviors that help kids develop positively, such as reading or playing.

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