媒体对儿童的影响是雅思大作文儿童话题里面常常考核的一个维度，特别电视电脑这类大家接触最多的电子设备，也是媒体影响这一块儿考察和研究最多的。今天我们就以2019年2月16号这道真题为例，来聊聊电视电脑到底对小孩有什么样的影响以及我们应该怎样看待这些影响。

Task 2

Nowadays, children spend too much time watching TV and playing computer games. Some people believe this has negative effects on children’s mental abilities. To what extent do you agree or disagree? (20190216)

注意：这个题目和单纯考察电视和电脑对小孩的影响相比，多了对范围的限定——对mental abilities的影响; 

那么很明显我们的对于影响的讨论在这道题里面仅限于mental abilities，在决定个人立场是同意或不同意之前，我们首先一定要非常清楚：

What does the word ‘mental’ refer to?

在Collins词典里很快查到对mental的定义如下：

‘Mental means relating to the process of thinking. A mental act is one that involves only thinking and not physical action’.通俗简单地来讲mental abilities就是跟智力的、脑力的相关的能力，也就是一切跟大脑发展相关的，比如听、说、读、写、看的能力我们就可以认为是属于mental abilities. 

所以，如果在文章中使用一些观点，例如Sitting in front of TV for a long time without doing enough exercise makes some children overweight, even resulting in obesity，就会非常影响Task Response (任务完成情况)的得分，一个完成度比较好的大作文，比如在Task Response 这一项拿到7分及以上，核心是需要做到：

Address all parts of the task (回应各部分写作任务)

很明显，上面给出的示例观点并没有回应对mental abilities, 而诸如此类对身体影响之类的观点在这个题目里面就完全不适用了。

所以我们需要思考的问题关键在于：

What do we know about the effects of watching TV and playing computer games on mental health?

首先从我们自身的体验感受来说，不管是看各种个样的电视节目还是玩儿不同类型的电脑游戏，一定会对我们的大脑产生一种视觉刺激(visual stimulation)，而多次画面的刺激是能够培养visual attention （视觉注意力）和图片信息处理的能力pattern recognition（图片信息处理的能力）；其次，很多游戏都要参与者根据相应的指令完成任务，所以相关的能力比如following instructions（跟随指令）, problem solving（解决问题的能力）, logic thinking（逻辑思维）, hand-eye combination（手眼结合能力）, fine motor skills（小肌肉运动能力）以及 spatial skills(空间技能)都可以在这个过程得到提升和锻炼

所以如果直接将电视电脑的影响划分为负面显示是不够合理的，所以就算过度（注意too much也是题目中非常重要的一个关键词）有危害，也不影响我们承认玩儿电脑和看电视对小孩智力的积极影响：

我们来试着用上述语料写出一个完整的段落来承认电脑电视的积极影响：

Though many parents blame the negative effects of watching TV and playing computer games on their children, screen-based technology like computer can build the player’s brain the same way as learning to read, playing the piano, or using a map. This is mainly because in many video games, the skills required to win involve following instructions, problem solving, logic thinking, hand-eye combination, fine motor and spatial skills. Also, adequate screen time allows a mass of exposure to visual stimulation from TV and video games, which can cultivate children’s visual attention skills and image processing.

这样一个完整的段落，除了前面讲过的补出的语料之外，还有两个词，screen time和screen-based technology需要大家记住，可以用来替换watching TV and playing computer games 这个表达

好啦，这个就是今天和大家分享的内容，让我们一起来回顾一下一些大家需要记住的不常用的但是对于这个题目来说却是非常关键的一些词汇，可以帮助大家积累一些词汇可以使用在类似写作题目中：

screen time

screen-based technology

a mass of 大量的

problem solving 解决问题的能力

fine motor 精细动作

spatial skills 空间想象能力

image processing 图像处理能力

cultivate 培养

在最后，附上完整的文章给大家作为参考：

People’s opinions differ as to whether too much time spent on watching TV and playing computers will negatively influence children’s mental development. While I believe this can help exploit children’s intelligence in some ways, the consequences of excessive using and watching cannot be ignored.

Though many parents blame the negative effects of watching TV and playing computer games on their children, screen-based technology like computers can build the player’s brain the same way as learning to read, playing the piano, or using a map. This is mainly because in many video games, the skills required to win involve following instructions, problem solving, logic thinking, hand-eye combination, fine motor and spatial skills. Also, adequate screen time allows a mass of exposure to visual stimulation, which can cultivate children’s visual attention and image processing.

However, too much screen time regardless of what children watch or play may undo the gains we have discussed above, even resulting an imbalanced mental development. While children are able to develop their image-related skills, their literacy abilities may deteriorate as a result. This is especially true when we realize that many children who are addicted to screen-based technology are unable to concentrate on their studies if only text information is presented. While reading and writing long essays and journal articles are core aspects of higher education assessment, the lack of mental focus as a result of computer and TV addiction will negatively influence children’s academic performance.

In conclusion, though research into the long-term effects of screen time is still relatively young and we do not yet know exactly what effects playing video games, using computers, or watching TV have on childhood development, too much of anything may be counter-productive.