Too much TV is '˜like heroin' for children

Just two hours of telly a day is leaving young children unprepared for school, a study shows.
How much TV do you let your children watch? Picture: Shutterstock.How much TV do you let your children watch? Picture: Shutterstock.
How much TV do you let your children watch? Picture: Shutterstock.

And pre-school children are getting hooked on TV and computer screens in the same way as junkies are to heroin and cocaine, an education expert warned.

Children exposed to too much TV fare particularly poorly at maths, unable to control their emotions and have an undeveloped memory.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Scientists said too much TV is putting youngsters between 2 and 5 back - with the affect felt most among those from poorer backgrounds.

Middle class children also suffered to a lesser extent, but there was no damage done to their more affluent peers.

The researchers said this could be down to well-off parents having more time to also watch the programmes which at the same time may be more educational.

Last year an Ofcom study showed pre-school children are spending more than four hours a day glued to screens.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They are online - using iPads and other devices - for an average of 71 minutes a day.

But - when gaming and watching television is included - their screen time rises to four hours and 11 minutes.

Commenting on the study, which was carried out in the US, Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said kids' addiction to screens is not getting enough attention and blamed lazy parents.

He said: "It's easy to sit a child in front of a TV or tablet to keep them quiet. But it's not doing them any good.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"They become addicted very quickly and by the time they arrive in school this craving is fed even more.

"Schools have embraced digital technology much too much as well which is feeding this addiction."

He said: "It can do the same damage to children as older people taking cocaine or heroin.

"I'm not a technophobe. Heroin is good in small doses when given as morphine. But when you get too much you become an addict. That's what's happening to children with digital technology."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The latest study only looked at TV viewing and did not include video games, tablets and smartphone use.

It looked at data from 807 children of diverse backgrounds and found the number of hours of TV young children watch is related to decreases in their school readiness, mainly their maths skills and executive function.

The link was strongest when children watched more than two hours, reports the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.

As family incomes decreased the problems increased, meaning children from low-income families are hurt more by too much TV.

TV viewing did not affect letter and word knowledge.