Between the time your baby is born and three years old, your child’s brain is developing rapidly in a unique way. Even playing with their fingers involves the brain’s nerves taking charge of the patterns of bending, stretching, straightening, and grasping. When one-year-olds play with a toy, they can study it, they can poke it, bite it, throw it on the floor, and from this they learn about space, sound, and get a sense of competent satisfaction. And when a child is hypnotically staring at the television, the pathways to these mental centers stop being established. This critical brain development will stop developing at age three. But when children watch TV, take a close look at what they are doing, or should I say “not doing”. They are not practicing hand-eye coordination, using their body functions, asking questions, using their imagination, practicing communication skills, problem solving, or using analytical skills. Every time a parent turns on the TV, they are depriving their children of the opportunity to learn important life lessons. So the effects of watching TV on your child go beyond vision! Physical Effects of Television Watching Children’s behavior worsens after watching television; they become hyperactive. This is a consequence of children sitting still to receive television images. The stimulation of television images gives the body the urge to move, but this stimulation is suppressed. This stimulated physical energy is not used up and remains in the body. Once the television is turned off, this energy is radiated around without purpose, and this is the aftermath of sound and light perceptual overload. This effect is harmful to all people, especially children. What the child needs is physical activity to strengthen his body so that it can work in harmony with his mind. Impact on the child’s self-image When the child watches television, he has no way of communicating with it, and the characters on the screen have no idea of his existence. As a result, the child learns that his presence is unimportant and serves no purpose. In response to this feeling, some children become hostile and aggressive, often yelling and screaming, which is their way of asserting their presence to themselves and the outside world. Other children become withdrawn and aloof, cutting off communication with the outside world and living in their own world. They feel incompetent, and it corrodes the child’s willpower. Effects on Reading Watching television is a right-brain processing, mainly picture recognition. Habitual television watching has been shown to have opposing effects on analytical thinking and procedures for reading. The speed of television makes children easily distracted and reduces their ability to focus on printed type. The complex eye movements involved in reading require practice to develop. For children who habitually watch television, their eye muscles are trained to focus on a fixed point, and reading becomes an unnatural burden on their eyes. If we want our children to grow into adults without constraints, they need to develop not only the ability to read, write, and think analytically, but also the love of learning through the use of reading, writing, and thinking. Impact on Imagination When a child watches television, it occupies his mind and time, limiting his opportunities to practice his imagination. The television projects images created by adults into the child’s mind, which are completely absorbed by the child, and the child becomes dependent on an outside force to create images and ideas for him, wiping out the child’s own inner ability to create images and severely diminishing the process of growing into a healthy adult. Imagination provides the ability to love. It is imagination that allows us to see the perfection of our beloved ones and the intent of imperfect human behavior; imagination is the threshold to the spiritual world of mankind. Influence on a child’s spiritual growth A child needs a quiet time each day to give himself a chance to digest, to reflect on the day’s events, and to eliminate conflicts that burden him. This will help him to grow internally. Parents are often aware that their children need a quiet time each day, but many parents use television to calm them down. Instead of providing the child with the opportunity to digest life’s experiences, this adds to his physical burden with more stimulation. Television fills the child’s mind with other people’s thoughts and images, denying him the freedom to discover himself. Without this opportunity, the child will lack the ability to recognize himself. Only by providing the child with self-awareness will the child develop the ability to explore his inner world and begin to understand the question, “Who am I?” The question “Who am I?” will begin to be understood. How to stop the habit of watching TV? First of all, adults should set a good example by giving up the habit of watching TV. If you can’t help it, it’s best to watch it after your child goes to bed. If you can do it, teaching by example is the best model for your child. When children are very young, letting them watch TV is often for the convenience of adults. If you are working in the kitchen, put some plastic food containers in the bottom cabinet for the kids to play with, and let them play with wooden spoons, unbreakable pots and pans, bowls, and other grown-up things. Make these a privilege that is only available in the kitchen so that they find it refreshing. You can also let them sit in a high chair and feed them a snack at this point. For older children, if your child has become addicted to watching TV, it will take a little while to change this habit, but it’s not impossible. Start by unplugging the TV and storing it in a cupboard or covering it with a cloth. If you can’t stop watching altogether at once, set some rules, such as only watching on weekends. For the first week or two, parents need to put some effort into helping their children find alternative activities, and reading with them is the easiest place to start. Go to the library and borrow books they are interested in, read to them when they are small, or read to them on their own.