Television and Media Literacy in Young Children: Issues and Effects in Early Childhood Kamaruzaman Jusoff, Nurul Nadiah Sahimi Abstract elevision viewing among young children has been an on going issue as it is found to effect their development in various areas. This problem is getting more worrisome as the percentage and amount of hours of television exposure among young children is increasing, especially with the growing production of children television programs.  Studies have found that television exposure to young children could effects their language and cognitive development, lead to behavior problems, attention disorder, aggression and obesity.

TV found to have negative impact on parent-child communication and early literacy compared to books and toys Date: September 15, 2011 Source: Wiley-Blackwell Summary: Since the first television screens lit up our living rooms scientists have been studying its affect on young children. Now scientists have compared mother-child communication while watching TV to reading books or playing with toys to reveal the impact on children's development. The results show that watching TV can lead to less interaction between parents and children, with a detrimental impact on literacy and language skills.

1. Texting reduces the need for in-depth conversations. Have you texted people as a form of avoidance? A few abbreviated words keep people from meaningful dialogue and face-to-face communication. It also diminishes the importance of body language in our communication. 2. Texting dumbs down spelling and grammar. "Txtspk" leads to deficiencies in basic language skills. Shortcuts with spelling, punctuation and emoticons don't help children and teenagers learn the necessary writing and communication skills they need for college and the workforce. Are these convenient shortcuts, acronyms and abbreviations giving way to generations of lazy and sloppy communicators? (Oh, gr8.) 3. Texting distracts us from being fully present. Earlier this year, the industry association that represents wireless communications (CTIA) reported that more than 184 billion text messages are sent each month in the U.S. These messages interrupt our brain function and attention. Texting pulls our focus away from the people and tasks we are experiencing in a moment, which deprives us of being completely present in our lives. 4. Texting invites ambiguity. Joel Willans wrote on Nokia.com: "The format of 160 characters was determined in 1993 by a communications researcher, Friedham Hillebrand. While trying to standardize the technology that would allow cell phones to transmit and display messages, he discovered that the average sentence or question needed just 160 characters." This leaves too many opportunities to mistakenly read between the lines.