Television and the Informational and Educational Needs of Children

The Children's Television Act of 1990 requires broadcasters to air programming that meets the informational and educational needs of children. Despite a massive amount of evidence that educational programming has positive effects on the social, intellectual, and educational development of young...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 1998-05, Vol.557 (1), p.9-23
Main Authors: Huston, Aletha C., Wright, John C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Broadcasting
Broadcasting industry
Child care
Child Development
Child psychology
Children
Education
Educational broadcasting
Educational sector
Educational television
Information
Law
Legislation
Mass Media Effects
Media
Preschool children
Programming (Broadcast)
Telecommunications Policy
Television
Television and children
Television broadcasting
Television commercials
Television programs
Television viewers
Television Viewing
United States
United States of America
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Summary:The Children's Television Act of 1990 requires broadcasters to air programming that meets the informational and educational needs of children. Despite a massive amount of evidence that educational programming has positive effects on the social, intellectual, and educational development of young children, and recent evidence that such viewing experience during the preschool years fosters both increased school readiness for kindergarten and superior high school grades in English, science, and math, there is still a large number of teachers and parents who believe that television viewing in general is harmful to children. Evidence to the contrary is reviewed, and the conditions under which the medium has a positive effect on children's educational progress are examined. A heavy diet of commercial, broadcast, entertainment television made for general audiences does indeed have some of the alleged harmful effects, but educational programming for children between the ages of 2 and 5 years has the opposite effects.
ISSN:0002-7162
1552-3349
DOI:10.1177/0002716298557000002