Television Influence on Children’s Upbringing in Bambili, North West Region, Cameroon

The creation of the University of Bamenda in Bambili has attracted more population of
both students, workers, and business people, a good number of whom live in Bambili.
There is therefore a significant presence of both families and the student population than
before. Also, there has been an increase in the number of households with television sets
due the increase in purchasing power from income generating activities and more salary
and wage earners living in Bambili. This paper seeks to examine the effects of television
on children’s upbringing in Bambili. The study which is a survey employed the simple
random sampling and recruited 50 freely consented parents/guardians to respond to a
well-structured questionnaire. The ensuing data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. The
results revealed that the influence of television on children’s upbringing is both negative
and positive since television viewing also enhances the cognitive development of
children. Besides, children also adopt deviant behavior from television. With a very low
rate of television viewing between parents and their children, an average of 2 hours per
day in a week, the study recommends that in addition to other regulatory mechanisms put
in place, parents should educate children at home on the dangers of adult TV content.

Key words: Television, Influence, Children upbringing, Bambili, North West Cameroontitution.