Complete 8 pages APA formatted article: Television and Early Childhood Development. Television can also interrupt family time, stop children from reading, and stop them from getting needed exercise (Boyse, 2011).

For busy parents, television can act as a way for children to be occupied and not underfoot when parents are attempting to do other things at home. The challenge is that more children are spending time in front of the television without much supervision (Boyse, 2011). In the category of children ages two to eleven, many children are watching television for 32 hours or more (McDonough, 2009). For the youngest children, their television viewing may include DVR or video (Boyse, 2011). The purpose of this research is to provide an analysis of television and how it affects child development in the earliest years of their experience.

All children go through various stages of development and depending on their environment. they may have natural stages of development or something that interrupts their ability to develop. There are also basic things that children should know when they are growing that will later prepare them for school. Maggi, Irwin, Siddiqi, and Hertzman (2010) state that from infancy to school age, many things are developing in the young child. The brain is being molded and shaped by its environment and by what is termed “critical periods” (Maggi et al., 2010, p. 629). Critical periods are biological aspects of the brain that create the neuron-to-neuron development and the development of the cells and other areas of the brain that are necessary for a child to function as they develop.

To aid in the development of the brain and other aspects of a child’s development, parents are encouraged to provide a stimulating environment for their child to learn. Children who grow up in an environment that is not stimulating, and not supportive, will have developmental delays (Maggi et al., 2010).