10 Crazy Facts About Watching Television that Should Scare You

Aside from the fact that television has become a little bit scary as a whole, there are some seriously scary things about watching television that should really freak you out. The facts and statistics surrounding television are shocking. What’s even worse about this is that it’s not just all about the negativity of kids watching television, either. It’s about just how bad television can be for all people in your family, including you and your spouse. It’s not good as a whole, and we just have to tell you that your poor television habits can actually mean bad things for your family. What you need to do is consider that television is affecting your health. It’s affecting the health of everyone in your home. It’s affecting the health of your kids. It’s affecting their self-esteem, their fear and their view of the world. This is not to say that family movie night should come to an end, it’s just to say that you should find something else to do instead of turning on the television so often during the day.

Infants and Television

Did you know that the typical infant – as in child under a year of age – watches as much as 2 hours of television a day? Do you know how bad that is for the development of a child this young? According to medical experts and child experts, this much television is a very bad thing, which is why we need to limit screen time at this age to less than an hour a day – though nothing a day would be much better.

Children and Television

Kids are now watching upwards of 2 hours of television a day. And while those shows and movies that are directed toward development are far better for kids than other shows, they’re still not great. Your kids are not stimulating their creativity and their need for time outside engaged in healthier activities when they spend this much time in front of the television.

Teens and Television

With teens, experts state that the timeframe in front of the television is now in excess of more than 4 hours per day. This means that your teens are spending most of their day at school and various practices and meetings and then spending the vast majority of their time at home in front of the television. Where is their social life, their homework time, their family time and their sleep time? It’s all seemingly missing from this part of their lives.

Television and Health

Your health and the health of your family are directly related to the amount of time in which you all spend in front of the television. The more television you watch, the less activity you get in a day. This means you are less healthy, you are more prone to obesity and you are going to live a shorter life. In fact, kids who watch more than an hour of television per day are nearly twice as likely to suffer from obesity as kids who spend less time in front of the television.

Television and Violence

While adults are less inclined to go out and become violent thanks to television and the influence it has on their ability to behave, it does have a big impact on kids and teens. Those who are constantly watching shows with violence in them are more likely to display aggressive behavior that will make them feel that they have to go out and engage in behavior that is aggressive and dangerous. It’s not a good idea to allow kids to watch whatever they want on television.

Television Reinforces Stereotypes

If you and your kids watch a lot of television, you’re teaching them that gender, racial and other stereotypes are the norm. Your kids are actually more likely to believe in classic stereotypes that they see on television if they watch more of it than they are if they don’t. Watching too much television is a great way to teach your daughters that they can be anything that want as long as their husbands and fathers approve and that men are in control and are better than women at certain things. It’s just not a good lesson for kids to learn.

Television and Fear

Another issue that stems from watching too much television is the fear that bad things will happen to kids in life. It’s something that you don’t want to show your kids because you don’t want them afraid. How many kids have seen one too many horror movies and are afraid to sleep in their own beds because they just know something is going to get them? It’s the same in other areas of life, too. You don’t want to inhibit your kids’ desires and wants by letting them become fearful thanks to fictional television.

Things Don’t Seem so Bad

When your kids spend too much time in front of the television, they learn things that are not necessarily true. For example, all those kids that go to parties and lie to their parents and drink and do drugs; nothing bad happens to them. It makes them cool and awesome and they have fun, so why not do those things in their own lives? Is this what you want your kids to learn?

It can Cause Depression

Television is a lot like social media in that it can make you feel bad about your own life. This is particularly true of reality television and the fact that what you see as reality is not quite reality. It’s not scripted, but it’s not always honest. These women and men are not always living the kind of life they seem to live and their pretending could make you feel depressed about your own life.

Television Detracts from Good Sleep

When you sit down in front of the television for a good hour or two or three each night, you will not sleep so well. Not only are you not active or engaging your family in quality time, you’re spending the night in front of a screen, which can make it difficult for you to fall asleep.

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