Movies are great to watch, but keep a lookout for the pitfalls
A woman watching a movie.
Watching movies is becoming one of the main leisure activities among the youth.
Where I live, smartphones and tablets are the most fashionable toys among children under five.
Parents who want peace of mind have invested in these gadgets and home internet to keep their children busy.
Teenagers switch from smart TVs, smartphones and laptops as they seek to quench their insatiable thirst for audiovisual entertainment. Such entertainment has many benefits. Film, for instance, plays a vital role in children’s brain development when viewed under parental guidance.
Movies enhance creativity, stir imagination, entertain and educate children and adults alike.
However, too much screen time may affect eyesight, especially among children. Too bright or too dim screen lights can harm the eyes, according to scientists.
Harmful content, such as X-rated movies and sexually explicit soap operas, affect young people’s attitudes and perceptions. Research has shown that such content affects how such teenagers perceive their peers— with some developing sexually permissive attitudes and relations.
Action movies have been found to elicit aggressive attitudes and, in some cases, violent behaviours.
A recent incident where a university student killed his family after allegedly watching a violence-laden TV show is a perfect example of the negative influence film has on the youth.
A lot of films portray drugs as ‘cool’ and some young people swallow this lie line, hook and sinker. In school and university, too much screen time has been linked to poor academic performance. It is nowadays common to see a university student skipping lectures after watching movies all night long.
Besides, the youth nowadays don’t engage in physical, social and intellectual activities such as exercises, sports and reading during their free time.
The result has been poor physical, mental and even social health, with cases of obesity among the youth being on the rise.
Are you aged 10-20 and would like to be Nation’s young reporter? Email your 400-600-word article to [email protected]
