For the kids, no new technology
is competing with television, which has become an accomplice of amusements,
distraction and happiness. Neither consoles or video games, or mobile phone.
If new technologies are so important in the development of the kids, do we
parents know how much time spend our children in front of the TV? Do we know the
content they look? Do the television networks respect the hours aimed at
children and youth content? The children spend too much time on TV, more than
two hours a day, between 4 and 14 years. They watch series and cartoons for all
ages and after the hours reserved for children and youth content.
"No need to put on TV cartoons, or leave the kids in front of the screen to
entertain them , and so do not disturb or rest . There are other alternatives ,
such as walks, the park , books , stories or games", says Ruth Gutierrez,
director of the Department of Culture and Communication Studies at the
University of Navarra (Spain).
A study by the Association of Communication Users (AUC) made to the Ombudsman
for Children in Spain, reveals that the most common time when the kids see TV is
between ten and twelve o'clock at night, when there is no legal limitation to
protect the kids.
For the president of AUC Magazines: "The programming schedule is poorly
organized from the pedagogical point of view and of the age segments". He
laments that in a few minutes the TV switches abruptly from the issuance of an
event aimed at children of 5 and 6 years, to another aimed at kids of 12-13
years.
"The younger kids just end playing habits, lifestyles, relationships, type of
music and modes that do not correspond to their age".
It is a marketing strategy, say from the Spanish Confederation of Associations
of Parents of Students ( Ceapa ). "The child becomes moody , loses control of
what he wants. So the child is less aware of the reality and try to live more in
fiction. Children imitate what they see on TV, believing that what they are
playing is normal".
Products like "The Simpsons" "South Park" or "Family Guy", exploit the spark of
animation to weave a wicked social satire aimed at the elderly.
"The classic stories also contain an expression of evil, they educate to have
fear and be afraid of the witch, the wolf. Snow White is not excluded from
violence. They are based on the fact that in the world there are dangers and
that the child must rely on parents and family. However, stories help the
parents to explain to their children things that they can not explain without
the help of a story", says Professor Ruth Gutiérrez.