Young children shouldn't watch so much television. Do you agree?

Recent statistics show that seven-year-old children have spent more than one year on watching television. The grim fact is that they more and more often prefer television to other forms of entertainment, even meeting their friends. Psychologists warn that it can be harmful to their mental development. Maybe it's worth wondering whether this statement is really justified. Should young children watch so much TV or not?

First of all, television is usually one of the first media which children meet with. It can be treated as a great source of information and fun. TV channels offer a wide variety of programmes, beginning on cartoons and finishing on exciting films about wild animals. Watching them, children have an opportunity to expand their horizons and acquire knowledge which might be useful in school for instance.

What's more, TV seems to be the most convenient medium. There's no need to move anywhere, just to push the button and then we can see completely different world. What do busy parents usually do to make their five or six-year-old children not to disturb them? They turn on cartoons on TV, video or DVD.

In addition, there is completely no sense in forbidding children to watch television. As I mentioned in the introduction, TV became a thing that no one can survive without. A child who doesn't watch the latest cartoon movies can be seen by his peers as worse. Young people in the age between seven and twelve tend to be sincere to the pain, unfortunately.

On the other band, it's necessary to mention about dangers carried by TV nowadays. Children are the most endangered with the bad influence of this powerful medium.

The first aspect we have to consider is that watching TV can lead to a risk of obesity. It has been proved that children who do it habitually are more likely to have problems with their weight in the future than their peers who watch TV less often. Not only are obese children less fit than their friends, but also they are more endangered with many health problems, even heart attack.

Another hazard is a matter of what children watch. There are many contents that are unsuitable for young people, like violence or porn. These can badly disturb a process of mental development, make children less sensitive. In fact, they are the easiest victims - people who are to know it best are the advertisers. Ads addressed to children create an unreal world and young televiewers are unable to realize that. They are obviously manipulated.

Moreover, watching too much TV can lead to an addiction. The effects of this can be very harmful. Apart from health aspect, children may find difficult to communicate with other people, become more aggressive and excitable. Difficulties in learning are also possible.

To sum up, it's hard to decide whether television is really dangerous thing for young children or not. All parents should think about it individually. After all, they should control carefully what their kids watch and choose programmes which are "children-friendly'. It is obvious that young people shouldn?t watch everything as it goes. In one word, I believe that kids must be brought up by their parents, not television.