IELTS Discussion Essay: A Proven Band 9 Strategy

Some people say that what children watch on TV influences their behaviour, while others say the amount of time children spend watching TV influences their behaviour.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.

A Complete Response

There is a debate whether the program content or the duration of watching television impacts on children’s behaviour. I believe it is the amount of time that affects most because though the children are prone to learn everything they see, they are more likely to absorb the ones that they are exposed over a long period of time. I will elucidate both views followed by my opinion in the essay.

Children are completely dependent on their surroundings, they learn most by watching and imitating whatever they see around them, whether it is in reality or on TV. That is why, the idea of role modelling is a powerful tool for their implicit learning. In other words, the characters they watch on TV, the way these actors and actress dress up and talk, the language and culture they showcase, directly impact on children’s emotion and activities. If they are exposed to Sherlock Holms, they visualize themselves in that incredible detective character; if it is Harry Potter, they start dreaming that they are living in a mysterious world. The same rule applies when it comes to violent scenes. Recent research concluded that sixty five percent of criminals were exposed to violent TV shows during their childhood.

On the other hand, the duration of watching TV is another root cause of children’s behavioural development. In fact, long hours of television watching not only breeds an addiction, but also it has a knock-on effect on children’s other spheres of life. Perceiving this dire consequence, American Paediatric Association suggests that each age category should only be allowed a specific amount of time per day to watch TV. They say that children less than two years should not allowed to watch any TV shows, while those between two and three years of age should watch less than two hours per day. Furthermore, a recent study found that seventy percent of those who lack attention in school lectures watch TV more than five hours a day. Therefore, the recommendations came by observing the resultant addiction and loss of concentration for those who watched TV above the standard limit of their age.

In conclusion, though both the type of shows watched and the number of hours spent by children on TV influence their behaviour in a way or another, I believe it is the large amount of time which is mainly responsible for mobilizing children on the long run.