Children who have a TV in their bedroom spend less time doing other activities that are essential to their development.
Once the authoritarian channels have been exhausted in the face of insistent children’s requests for a television in the bedroom, two choices arise: find a false pretext – there are not enough outlets, for example – or give in.
Parents can rest assured: researchers at Iowa State University (United States) have found some additional arguments for them. They have observed that children who have a TV in their bedroom do less well at school, and have more physical and mental health problems.
Slightly heavy TV programs
By following children between 8 and 11 years old – who would be between CE2 and CM2 in France – for two years, they noticed that a screen in the bedroom increased, as expected, the time spent in front of a screen. The excuse “just because I have a television in my room does not mean that I am going to watch it any longer” therefore does not hold water.
This extra time represents increased risk on a physical level. Children with a TV in their bedroom have a higher body mass index (BMI) than others, and they are at greater risk for obesity. A study carried out in 2014 had already shown that they weighed on average 0.4 kg more, and that after four years, their BMI was higher than others by a point.
Reading the subtitles is not enough
They are indeed less restless, but physical activity is far from being the only one to be eaten up by the programs. Time is incompressible, and if these children watch TV more, they read less. This is one of the factors that American researchers point to to explain the drop in academic performance they have observed.
This is not the only one. “When they turn on the television alone in their bedrooms, most children are probably not going to watch educational programs,” said Douglas Gentile, professor of psychology at Iowa State University, and one of the authors of the report. ‘study published in the review Developmental Psychology. Putting a TV in a room gives the child private access, 24 hours a day, and takes away the supervision and control from the parents. “
Video games add a layer
In addition to the educational deficit they suffer, they also watch programs less adapted to their age, often more violent. The TV is often accompanied by a game console in the bedrooms, and the cocktail adds risk. The time spent in front of the screen increases.
The researchers also noticed that they played more violent games than if they were in the living room, which would make them more aggressive. An aggressiveness that they also observed with the TV alone.
Finally, the presence of a game console exposes children to a risk of addiction. “We know, thanks to decades of research on addiction, that its number one preacher is access,” recalls Professor Gentile. You can’t become addicted to gambling if you don’t have a place to bet. “
Know how to say no
The researcher also obviously had to deal with the pressure of his own children. He points out that this can cause conflicts in the short term, but which will be profitable over time. “It is much easier for parents to never allow the TV in a room than to remove it,” he continues. This is a question that most parents have to face one day or another. And the answer is as simple as a three-letter word: it’s tough, but it’s worth it. ” No ?
No. No TV in the room, no console either, therefore. The psychologist goes even further, recommending to ban, as much as possible, all media. Because in addition to the time wasted for developmental activities important to the child, they make them stay awake longer, screens interfere with their sleep, and they are exposed to late conversations via text or social networks.
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