Please help me with my essay

Children can learn effectively by watching television, therefore they should be encouraged to watch television regularly at home and at school.

To what extent do you agree?

Some people believe that parents and teachers should frequently use television as a means of education for children due to its efficacy. I completely disagree.

First, watching television is rather a passive, one-dimensional way of learning without real social interactions. If there is a topic or concept from the tv program that children do not understand, it is hard for them to seek clarification as the presenter cannot answer their questions. Also, while teachers can control the teaching pace to adapt to students’ comprehension ability and choose important or difficult knowledge to further explain, that is not feasible for TV programs. Consequently, this type of study depends on students’ learning capacity and is hard for parents and teachers to assess or improve children’s progress and understanding. Hence, watching television is not a conducive approach to learning.

Second, many TV programs include contents that are not pedagogical or even unsuitable for children, so parents and teachers have to supervise and control what children should watch. However, this would make children feel coercion and frustrated as they see watching tv as a form of entertainment and want to watch fun and entertaining animation and programs, rather than long and boring educational ones. Furthermore, it is difficult or even impossible for parents and teachers to turn on a tv program that includes the exact knowledge taught in the classroom. Consequently, watching tv for educational purposes cannot help children with the acquisition of previously taught knowledge in school and doing assignments. Dedicating time to this seems to be a waste of time and only reduces the time children can use for leisure and family activities, which is vital for them to release academic stress and for their overall well-being.

In conclusion, parents and teachers should not make their children watch tv frequently for the aim of education as it is rather ineffective due to its lack of clarification and adjustability and takes away the time for enjoyment.