What happens when children goes to the Movies?
Overall, the research showed that movies and television can have negative effects on children, spanning from negative health and development effects and language development issues in children under two, to links to obesity, tobacco use, and issues with aggression and attention in older children.
Studies explained that young children's language development is strongly influenced by and related to the amount of time parents spend speaking to them. Based on this, they proved that vocabulary growth could be interfered with in households with increased TV use. Another study regarding older children, linked media exposure (primarily movies, television, and music) to seven negative health outcomes. This included 80% of 100 studies peer-reviewed showing a statistically significant link between obesity and media exposure.
On the other hand, there are also some positive aspects of movies for children. Namely, they can provide educational resources, help develop character, expand vocabulary with older children, increase empathy, and promote positive social interaction.
Specifically, evidence shows that children can respond to positive film influence, with regard to stimulation of emotions, empathy, and positive social behaviour. Additionally, movies are an educational supplement to course material in many classrooms and can provide educational value in a historical context, in some cases. Another educational angle, language learning, can also be benefited by film. Language is learned through exposure to comprehensible input, and film provides children with various opportunities to receive this input and develop their language skills (as long as they are old enough to fully comprehend the context or subject matter).
Leave a comment