It is proven that television influences children's language, reducing communication between parents and children. This has negative consequences on language development in children.
It is not unusual for speech therapists to reach families whose two- or three-year-old children do not speak, coming to think of a problem in the development of communication, compatible with the autistic spectrum. However, they are usually children who have a language delay.
When looking for the possible causal factors of this delay, we find a quite feasible explanation: a large number of children of these characteristics have spent the first two or three years of life watching television.
It is evident that watching television is one of the aspects that in children 's life is important and has a noticeable influence. Not surprisingly, it is estimated that The average time spent in front of the TV during the day is 4 hours. But we must not forget that, just as it can entertain, inform and accompany, it can also be a bad influence.
Abuse of television, DVD or computers in the first years of the child's life, deprive children of other activities in which they could be developing interaction with family members, language development, interpersonal activities, social games and environmental exploration.
An example situation is as follows: children are alone while watching television, so it is not necessary to broadcast oral language. On the other hand, we can also find that parents are with their children, but are not worried about sharing with them what they are seeing.
It is clear that to develop the language you need someone who wants to say something (a sender) and someone who receives it (a receiver) to exchange the papers; It is an interactive activity. If the child is watching TV with no one to share the experiences he is living with, the activity is passive: the child receives the message from the television but the television does not need to receive any oral message from the child, so he does not speak .
Excessive visual stimulation carried by children's programs, characterized by rapid movements and a multitude of colors, can cause auditory processing skills to be delayed. And we must not forget how important these skills are for the development of good auditory discrimination or optimal language development.
Also, due to an extended exposure time in front of the television, the movement of children is limited. This has the effect that the sensory system lacks the information necessary for optimal sensory development that would help improve attention.
When letting our child watch television, the ideal would be to select programs suitable for the child's level of development, being able to interact with them during the program. We will also take the opportunity to point out appropriate and positive values and can also seek your interest with activities and situations of daily life, which will give us many opportunities to help you stimulate language.
And the question that many of us ask ourselves: How long is it recommended that they watch television? It is recommended that children under six years of age are not exposed to television. From there, no more than two hours of television per day is advised.
