Do children spend too much time in front of screens???

Question

Hello everyone. im in primary school and part of the premier debate. i really need help with this topic!!! remember: screens can include televisions, computers, nintendo's, mobile phones and so many others. THINK OUTSIDE THE SQUARE!!!!

Answer 1

Yes in developed countries. There was a show on eyesight and in poorer countries without screens the people didn't need glasses as much as here. They alter the focus of their eyes more often exercising the muscles in the eye itself.

Answer 2

First you have to ask yourself the definition of 'too much'.  On average children spend two to three hours in front of a screen here in the UK, be it TV, Computer, Games console or mobile phone.  It does mean that they get less exercise, but it also makes them more computer literate, technically literate and visually literate which is a good way to prepare themselves for the future.  So long as supervision is good, I think it can be a positive thing.  While this is true for middle class or richer children poorer children can lose out.

"Poorer children were more likely to want a high-paying job

Children in poorer areas are twice as likely to have televisions in their rooms as those in affluent areas, a National Consumer Council survey found.

Some 550 children aged nine to 13 filled in researchers' questionnaires.

Nearly half the affluent children had TVs in their bedrooms - and almost all (97%) of those in deprived areas.

Poorer children were six times more likely to watch TV during their evening meals, more likely to watch commercial TV and to believe claims in adverts.

Chief executive Ed Mayo said: "This research is the first in the UK to explore in depth the connections between the wellbeing of our children and the commercial world that surrounds them.

"The report warns against simplistic claims, whether by commercial advocates of more marketing to children or by critics who argue that there is a 'loss of childhood' underway in Britain."

The researchers obtained the views of children in six schools: two primary schools and one secondary in areas ranked in the top and bottom 15% for affluence.

Their report - Watching, Wanting and Wellbeing - said children were not only watching programmes aimed at their age group. "

Children 'gain weight as they watch TV' by David Fickling, Guardian.co.uk, Tuesday April 25, 2006

Children consume nearly as many calories as are in a packet of crisps with every hour they spend watching television, according to US research.

Watching TV also encourages children to eat more junk foods, particularly soft drinks and takeaway fast food, the researchers found.

The study is the first to demonstrate that watching television directly influences intake of calories. Its main author, Jean Wiecha, said the survey showed that excessive TV viewing was in itself a health risk.

Answer 3

yes

Answer 4

Yes. Their life gets influenced by screens and they might take advice from screens.

Social life also will drop. And so is their general knowledge as they don't go out there and explore and experience.