Technology offers several benefits but with those advantages, you also have to keep into account the negative effects it can have on your kids. Cable television, in this regard, comes with numerous advantages for children. From making learning fun to engaging kids in entertaining activities, it has become quite an integral part of our lives. However, an excess of anything can have a negative effect on your mind and body. It can also give your children access to inappropriate content and can potentially lead to molding their personalities and habits into something that could become harmful to society.
Therefore, it is highly essential, as a parent, for you to understand both the positive and negative effects of cable television on your little ones.
So, let’s take a closer look at how this technology can impact your kids.
Positive Effects of Cable Television
Cable television has numerous benefits. Some of these advantages are mentioned below:
- Educational Content
Inarguably, cable television contributes immensely to the learning process of your kids. It inspires them to engage in productive and healthy practices. What’s more, channels like Discovery, Animal Planet, and American Heroes Channel are great sources to teach your kids about the world and your country, and its history. This innovative learning is also encouraged by kids who don’t particularly like traditional methods of teaching.
In this regard, it is essential for you to get a subscription to reliable cable TV providers like Cox. The channel lineup of this provider includes educational networks, including the ones mentioned above. Plus, its Parental Controls feature also allows you to keep a check on the kind of content your kids can access. If you are not satisfied with your current provider, then visit Cox en Español and get in touch with its customer support to learn more about its cable packages so that you can make the switch as soon as possible.
- Entertainment
Whether it is Dora the Explorer or Arthur, entertainment content can positively affect your kids greatly. Shows like these teach your kids various skills. They learn communication skills, and how they can navigate through a difficult situation when faced with it. In addition to this, entertainment programs also stimulate the imaginative faculty of children and make them more creative. Programs with heists can increase the critical thinking skills of children significantly.
- Sports
Kids’ networks dedicated to sports like tennis, soccer, and baseball encourage children to incorporate practices in their daily routines that demand physical activities. This can help them in maintaining a weight that is ideal for their age.
One of the biggest challenges the United States is facing in the current times is a rapid increase in obesity among kids. This is partly because children have started to lose interest in sports and gameplay. By letting them watch sports content, you can encourage them to play these games. Consequently, it will be good for their academic career as well.
Negative Effects of Cable Television
Cable TV can have drastic negative effects on children. In order to learn about those effects, take a closer look at the points given below:
- Affects Brain Development and Behavior
According to Pediatrician and Neonatologist Dr. Neema Shrestha, excessively watching poor-quality content on television for more than two hours a day can hinder cognitive development in children. In addition to this, it can cause language delays, poor reading skills, and mathematic skills, and can drastically affect short-term memory in children of two to five years.
Apart from brain development, it can also give birth to various behavioral problems. You would be surprised to know that even harmless shows like Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer are not recommended for kids who are of preschool age.
- Exposure to Different Vices
Technology, whether in the form of print or digital media, can act like a portal to content that exposes you to vices of all kinds. As a parent, you might not be able to control everything your little ones watch on the TV. Cable shows are said to have various inappropriate content explicitly or implicitly hidden in the shows or cartoons.
*TRIGGER WARNING* Such content includes mentions of sex, drugs, suicide, alcohol, and various violent acts. Such shows can encourage aggressive behavior in kids, resulting in detrimental social interactions.
- Consumerism
One of the most dangerous effects of cable television is that promotes consumerism in kids. Several fast food ads encourage children to consume unhealthy meals and drinks in large quantities. Such ads lead them to think that these foods are healthy and good for them. As a result, children begin to ask for such meals and may even develop food aversion towards healthy food.
Final Verdict!
Cable television is one of the best inventions. It offers several benefits to children in their mental and physical development. Whether it is educational content or content that encourages them to engage in sports, cable TV, inarguably, contributes to teaching your kids healthy habits. However, simultaneously, it also has a few negative effects on kids’ brain and physical development.
As a parent, it is essential for you to enlighten yourself with all types of outcomes so you can take the necessary steps to steer your kids in the right direction.