Influence Of Television Viewing On Children’s Social Development Among Preschoolers In Thogoto Zone, Kikuyu District, Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

This study was intended to explore the influence of television viewing on preschool children‟s social development in Thogoto Zone, Kikuyu District, Kiambu County, Kenya. The research formulated study questions about the percentage of preschool children who watch television, the time spent by preschool children watching television, the kinds of programmes watched, parental supervision on television viewing, and effects of television viewing on the preschool children‟s social development. The study was limited to preschool children in Thogoto Zone, Kikuyu District, Kiambu County. Data was collected using questionnaires, and analyzed with both quantitative and qualitative methods. Television was found to be present in the lives of most preschool children in Thogoto Zone, Kikuyu District and Kiambu County. It was also observed that television consumes time that preschoolers need for other important activities, such as interaction, which are crucial for social development. The study found that most of the programmes that preschool teachers are exposed to have characters whose attitudes and relations with other characters could influence the way children relate with other children when they are interacting with each other. It was observed that, as a big percentage of the parents do not supervise what their preschool children watch on their television, children enter a world of fantasy without the guidance and oversight of adults. Preschool children are exposed to shows without adults who could comment on the content and discourage the inappropriate behaviour that they see on television. It was concluded that television viewing could have a negative influence on the preschooler‟s social development.