Question 4 - Practice 2

Question 4

Practice 2

Reading and Lecture

Now listen to a related lecture. Fill in the missing information.

M: Probably the most obvious downside of interactive television is that, like all television, it can influence a child’s intelligence in a bad way.

A recent study showed that children who are exposed to television at a young age score lower on intelligence test than do other children, leading a pediatrics institution to conclude that children under age two should not be watching television as it could harm them cognitively.

Despite this fact, interactive television systems are being made for children as young as toddlers.

Studies have now estimated that children as young as a year old are watching over two hours of television a day. So, interactive television simply increases the time our children spend in front of the TV, thus harming them in the long run.

Interactive television will also allow advertisers to target children in new ways.

For instance, certain interactive Internet games have already been developed which advertise products to children as they’re playing the games.

Products like cereal, chocolate chip cookies, and beverages have all been advertised through interactive games that children can play.

This is a problem because children are inherently vulnerable to advertising.

They usually accept what they see or hear is fact. With interactive television, because it often works through an Internet connection, advertisers can target children based on what they learn about them, their gender, age, even their behaviors and preferences.