Role of parents in children's television viewing

Abstract

Research in other countries has shown that the impact of television on children can be controlled if programmes are watched in the presence of adults and there is suffi cient interaction and discussion. A co-viewing adult can make television viewing an active process and can facilitate learning from it. Television viewing in Indian homes has been studied to examine the extent of such interaction and discussion. Interviews with 754 children and their mothers indicated that parental education is a critical factor. In the households where parents had comparatively higher levels of education, the children spent more time watching television. Educated parents also had more in teraction and discussion with their children about TV programmes. A positive image of television as a healthy source of entertainment and information prevailed among the parents, mainly due to a substantial amount of transmission time being allocated to programmes of educational significance. Some amount of positive learning from TV has also been suggested. Most parents restricted viewing, but more to restrict viewing of certain programmes considered undesirable. The study highlights the im portance of TV-related variables and parental variables. The findings suggest a need to sensitize and educate parents to their role in their children's viewing and how they can make it a fruitful learning experience. The potential of television for promoting child development needs to be utilized more for the benefit of children.