Participating in creative activities significantly contributes to the proper growth of a child, especially in his or her early years of development. Concisely, while other brain progress may be distorted through exposure to improper activities, the imagination of children and languages become the most affected. Therefore, there is the need for children to participate in various games and reading sessions for an effective lingual and imagery growth. Essentially, the creativity and language sense of children are greatly influenced by what they see and hear. On the other hand, if children are not well monitored their development may be hindered by too much television and other passive media platforms consumption. On the digital platform, children are not acquitted interaction space, thus hindering them from learning or becoming creative in either language or imagination. Therefore, this study will evaluate on how reading contributes to language and imagery development in comparison to the adverse effects associated with watching television.
Language in children develops from acquiring the appropriate responses from those they socialize with as they attempt to grasp the few words learned from their immediate society. In fact, when adults respond and correct children, they modify the little understanding in them as per what is expected of their language (Woolley, 2010). Nonetheless, the continuous improvement they acquire in their spoken words during reading sessions may not be realized if a kid spends the entire time watching television. Notably, when a TV is on neither the parent nor the child talks thus, no interaction transpires between them. In fact, the result of too much indulgence in the media affects language development. In essence, it is through reading that a child is corrected, unlike television sessions which capture all the attention of both the parent and the child (Calvert et al., 2008). Nonetheless, engaging in literacy activities are the best opportunities for kids to experiment and experience with the language. In fact, during book reading children can use language at more challenging and abstract level than they do during spoken word interactions. As a result, they learn to rely less on the immediate context of their language for communication purposes. In essence, this process of developing their spoken words significantly helps them in efficient communication during school activities later in life. Also, due to this exposure, the meta-linguistic skills of children develop early enough. Therefore, despite using language as a way of communication children can learn about how to play with spoken words, talk, analyze, and think about diction.
Mental imagery is another concept that children require to develop in the early stages of their life. Acquiring metaphors because initially imagination in children is much weaker, thus the needs to engage in reading activities that are fundamental in developing their creativity. In essence, children only grasp few details and facts during the oral interaction. Thus, learners rarely understand the main idea embedded in what they are speaking or reading. However, when a parent takes reading sessions with their children they significantly contribute to developing their imagery skills and emotions consequently (Luongo-Orlando, 2010). During literacy activities, kids can translate the words they are reading or being read to an imaginary picture. Moreover, it is in such sessions that children learn how to imagine the feelings of the character in a story, which is an essential process that helps them understand different people and situations. Besides, it is through imagination that children travel in different places, time, and worlds. Also, at the same time, it is in book pages where kids explore the stories of people they have never met and also visit new places through fiction. Considerably, reading is considered a social platform where kids learn about the world around them, significant events, and gain new experiences. Additionally, their imaginations help them to comprehend different ways of life, beliefs, and ideologies. Importantly, reading time is an excellent opportunity for kids to interact with their parents through discussions that are stimulated by characters and events in a story.
In addition, during the reading time, children get a platform where they can interact with their parents, thus a discussion gets stimulated (Woolley, 2010). Concisely, a good reading session contains some analysis in consideration that during such a period a child presents what they have imagined to the reader who either agrees with him or her or corrects their imagination. As a result of interacting with adults during reading, interaction children can understand whatever is happening in the entire story through the clarifications they receive from their parents. On the other hand, the child’s reading partner knows the phrases and words that are influencing him or her and uses them to build on the imagery sense of the kid. However, while reading sessions can elicit different views from the parent and child, it is through them that the reader can use to encourage, support and help the kid develop the deeper meaning of a story eventually. Therefore, reading improves the child’s creativity and fantasy which is a process that helps the learners think beyond the understanding they receive in every day in the new words they interact (Woolley, 2010). Consequently, it is through studying that a foundation is laid for children, thus it becomes easier to respond and resolve challenges amicably in their academics.
On the other hand, while reading is seen as an active contributor towards imagery development, watching television elicits different results. Although concentrating on the books is an engaging activity, the TV, on the other hand, spoon feeds the kid with all the information which is never accompanied by any explanation. Notably, when children are glued to the television, they are hindered from developing their imaginations considering that they are not entirely aware of how to differentiate between what is real and fantasy (Calvert et al., 2008). Consequently, what young learners understand about the real world ceases to exist and instead harmful ideologies take over their young minds. Moreover, toddlers become vulnerable to the scary, sexually oriented, and extreme programs and advertisements they watch on their TV sets. In essence, watching scary programs can lead to nightmares as the images remain in their minds for quite some time. On the other hand, violent and sexually appealing scenes can cause children to imitate them despite their lack of knowledge of what may be happening in the same programs. Similarly, adverts attract kids due to their flashy colors and images, but they do not understand them and often think they are somehow part of the program they are watching.
Child development is particularly critical in the early days of every kid’s life. In essence, the above discussion has established how reading can positively impact on their language and imagery development. On the other hand, watching TV adversely affects the growth in young learners. Through reading, language develops from the interaction that transpires between a parent and a child. Therefore, the children can experiment and explore words while watching TV leaves no space for kids to ask questions or discuss what they have seen on the digital platform. On the other hand, reading develops the mental image of a child because this is where the teenager creates an imaginary picture of what they are reading, thus understanding the main idea of the entire story. Unfortunately, by relying on the television alone to help in imagery development, the learners’ creativity is compromised.