Investigating in what ways television consumption influences preschool aged children and their development

Abstract

The media has repeatedly been connected to hindering the development of children. Particularly, an increase in aggressive behaviour and a decrease in creativity can be linked to children whose television consumption is above average (Valkenburg, 2001). Furthermore, the media is also said to increase the desire for consumption amongst children. Thus, the paper focuses on the way the regular viewing of television and advertisements, affect preschool children as consumers. This is achieved by comparing the drawings of several preschool children who all view the television for different time intervals. The first part of the study examines the television viewing habits of the children. While the second section of the study analyses the relationship between television consumption and the development of the children. The study was conducted with preschool children aged from 4 to 6 years in Hungary. The author discusses the outcomes of the discussions as well as the quality of the children’s drawings and reflects on possible effects deriving from the television consumption of the children. To validate results, a children’s phycologist also reviewed the drawings.