Should children watch television? In the United States, “Children watch 4 hours of television every day, 28 hours a week, and sometimes 10 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Before their 18th birthday, children can watch 25,000 hours of television” (Ni Chang 85). Nowadays, technology has been developed and used in many different ways. Many children spend a lot of time on iPads, smartphones and computers. Clearly, television has played an important role in the lives of most young people. As a parent, one of the biggest concerns about the influence television has on children is that they tend to become aggressive while watching a lot of violent programs. Communicating and interacting with each other is limited because television has destroyed communication between families and distanced children from social interaction. Additionally, watching a lot of TV also contributes to childhood obesity. Overall, television is harmful to children in the early stage of development because it will not only delay their brain development, but also increase their aggressive behavior and cause childhood obesity in the long term. First, children who normally watch TV are more likely to have delayed brain development. For example, by constantly watching TV, children will lose natural exploratory skills, such as language development, learning and attention. According to Mary L. Courage, research professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, "Exposure to the unnaturally fast pace of changing sounds and images in video material during this sensitive period could alter synaptic connections in the neural networks underlying attention and shorten the time". child's attention span” (73). Basically, he's saying that many children have started...... middle of paper ...... rks CitedNi Chang, Mary. “Reasoning with Children About Violent TV Shows and Related Toys.” Journal of Early Childhood Education 28.2 (2000): 85-89. Premier of academic research. Network. 13 February 2014. Al-Ghamdi, Sameer H. “The Association Between Watching Television and Obesity in School-Age Children in Saudi Arabia.” Journal of Family and Community Medicine 20.2 (2013): 83-89. Premier of academic research. Network. February 13, 2014. Burke, Mary G. “The Influence of Television and Visual Electronic Media on Brain Development.” Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter 19.7 (2003): 1. Academic Search Premier. Network. February 13, 2014.Courage, Mary L. “Debate over the impact of television and video material on very young children: Attention, learning, and brain development.” Child Development Perspectives 3.1 (2009): 72-78. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 February. 2014.