Can Watching Children's TV Affect Learning and Development?

Children’s TV programmes are inherently popular and, with so many appealing storylines and characters, it’s no wonder children enjoy watching them. But if you let your child watch TV, could it affect their learning and development?

If you're concerned about screen time impacting development, you can explore age appropriate alternatives using our free Developmental Activity Finder.

Television has become a major part of most of our lives. It’s the norm to have a television located in the lounge, but in many homes, TVs are found throughout the house, in the kitchen, bedrooms and children’s rooms. When children’s programmes first started, there was minimum choice, but over the years the available programmes have expanded considerably until today, when there are multiple children’s TV channels on digital and satellite TV.

What Harm Could TV Watching Have?

Not surprisingly, there’s been a lot of opinion and thought regarding whether or not watching TV can have an effect on children, whether positive or negative. In older children and teens, there have been worries about the influence of viewing scenes of violence or a sexual nature and the effect that it could have on their own behaviour. For younger children, there’s the worry that simply watching TV, rather than being actively involved in learning or trying new experiences, may slow their development.

In the case of young children, it’s all too easy for parents to switch on the TV or pop on a DVD and sit children down in front of it – often to give themselves a bit of time away from their demands. Whilst there’s no harm in doing this occasionally, and children will no doubt enjoy it, it’s not an ideal habit to encourage too often.

Young children need stimulation on a variety of levels to enhance their learning and development. Simply sitting and watching television is a very passive activity and doesn’t engage them in a lot of active learning. The lack of activity is a key concern, with some people suggesting that watching too much TV can be linked to the growing rise in the numbers of overweight children.

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The Benefits of Children’s TV Programmes

However, watching children’s television programmes can have some benefits. On the plus side, some programmes feature elements for young children to copy or join in with and programmes can be educational in nature, helping maths or literacy skills, for example. Not all children love reading or take to it automatically but sometimes books that are developed as a result of children’s TV programmes, or programmes that are inspired by existing books, can serve as a hook to get children reading.

In a similar vein, seeing televised versions of classic children’s novels plays can be a great way of introducing a new generation of children to the stories. There are a lot of children who discover literary classics this way and then get inspired to start reading more as a result of great children’s TV programmes.

TV programmes can help get children interested in other subjects too, like art, science or even maths. It’s also a way of bringing children from all different backgrounds together – they get to learn about different backgrounds and different children and, when they go to school, a shared joy of watching certain programmes can bring kids together.

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Getting a Healthy Balance of TV

In essence, it does all come down to the issue of balance. Watching television in moderation is probably unlikely to have any major detrimental effects, as long as it’s balanced out with plenty of other activities to help learning and development.

As a parent, you can help develop a healthy attitude to television by setting a good example yourself!

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our School Readiness Checker lets you is your child ready to start school? Answer questions about their skills and confidence, and get a personalised assessment with tips on how to prepare them for their first day. Try it now →