Andrea Coffey

EDST 6216

The Impact of Television on Early Childhood Development

American Academy of Pediatrics. Children, adolescents, and television. Pediatrics. 2001; 107
(2): 423-426
This source is a statement that was published by the American Academy of Pediatrics
about television use and parental involvement. This statement concluded that children under the
age of two should not watch television, and older children should only watch one to hours of
television daily. Also parents should closely monitor the content that their children are watching,
because children are impressionable.

Anderson, D. R., & Hanson, K. G. (2010). From blooming, buzzing confusion to media literacy:
The early development of television viewing. Developmental Review, 30(2), 239-255.
doi:10.1016/j.dr.2010.03.004
Anderson and Hanson have both published numerous articles on the topic of children and
television use. Their research involves a task analysis of children of varying ages watching
television, for the purpose of understanding how people come to comprehend television. Their
results concluded that infants can barely see screens, at the age of two children can comprehend
content, and at the age of thirteen there is full comprehension of media content.

Bavelier, D., Green, C. S., & Dye, M. W. G. (2010). Children, wired for better and for worse.
Neuron, 67(5), 692701. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.08.035
This article discussed the myriad of ways technology can impact children. It concludes
that technology impacts our daily lives in terms what is happening in the brain, but how it
specifically impacts us is being tested and the results are varying.

Courage ML, Howe ML. To watch or not to watch: Infants and toddlers in a brave new
electronic world. Developmental Review. 2010; 30: 101-115.

Courage and Howe have both published multiple works investigating how television
impacts young children. In this article they touch on past and current research. They conclude
that children before the age of two understand very little. Also that television and technology do
not rewire the brain or cause ADHD.
 Kirkorian, H. L., Wartella, E. A., & Anderson, D. R. (2008). Media and Young Children's
Learning. The Future of Children, 18(1), 39-61. Retrieved July 23, 2017, from
https://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/docs/18_01_03.pdf.

These authors have also published other related articles on children and media use. Their
article discusses that children under the age of two learn best through physical exploration of
their environment. Children over the age of two can benefit from educational media, especially
when viewed with parents.

McLeod, S. (1970, January 01). Jean Piaget. Retrieved July 25, 2017, from
https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

This website summarizes the research and findings of Jean Piaget. It was used in the
literature view to establish a foundation of development in comparison to television use.

Media and Young Minds. (2016). Pediatrics, 138(5). doi:10.1542/peds.2016-2591

This is a policy statement about the impact of technology on brain development. It states
that children between the ages of zero and five benefit most from parent interaction.

Rushkoff, D. (2013, January 04). Young Kids and Technology at Home. Retrieved July 27, 2017,
from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/kids-technology-home-young-children-douglas-rushkoff

Rushkoff is a digital literacy advocate. He implores in his article that children first become
familiarized with the physical world around them, before they become immersed in the digital
world, as it will give them a greater context.
Zimmerman FJ, Christakis DA. Childrens television viewing and cognitive outcomes: a longitudinal
analysis of national data. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 2005; 159(7):619-625.

This article used the longitudinal data that tracked children from the 1990s into 2000. This
data is outdated and does not reflect current technology and media use. Their researched discussed
that children who watched less television scored higher on academic tests.