Television and Young Children : Behavioural Issues and Ways of Promoting Media Literacy in Early Childhood

Television viewing among young children has been an ongoing issue as it is found to affect their development in various areas. This problem is getting more worrisome as the percentage and number of hours of television exposure among young children is increasing, especially with the growing production of children’s television programmes. Studies have found that television exposure to young children could affect their language and cognitive development, lead to behavioural problems, attention disorder, aggression and learning disability. This paper discusses the various behavioural issues of television exposure of young children, and the ways of promoting media literacy in early childhood.