An Investigation Study of TV Watching for Albanian Children and Teenagers Living in Tirana

Abstract

The time children and teens spend in front of TV is one of the most disturbing phenomenon of parents not only in Albania but around the world. Watching TV for a considerable amount of hours is associated with a variety of problems in children, such as obesity, behavioral problems, sleep problems, insufficient engagement in the accomplishment of academic tasks and many other problems. The purpose of this study is to provide a broader overview of the amount of time Albanian children and teenagers in 1st, 5th, 9th and 12th grades spend watching TV. Do they watch more TV before they go to school or when they return from school? Is there a difference between boys and girls in the time they spend in front of the TV? But is there a difference between different age groups in this regard? The study was conducted in Tirana where (n = 698) children and teenagers participated in this study. It turned out that the children and teenagers interviewed watched more TV as they returned from school compared to before going to school. No statistically significant differences were observed between the boys and girls interviewed. No statistically significant differences were observed even between the classes taken in the study, but teenagers were found to watch slightly more TV than children. Important study resolutions are that before going to school most of them do not watch TV at all and after returning from school the highest percentage of the participants watch 1 to 2 hours of TV per day, which is acceptable for their age.