In the worst possible taste: children,television and cultural value

Abstract

This article draws on data gathered as part of a broader research project looking at the changing nature of children's television culture. In the light of public concerns about the shortcomings of children's 'natural' tastes in television, and broader academic arguments about the social functions of judgements of taste, the article considers whether it makes sense to talk about a distinctive 'children's taste culture' in relation to television. Through an analysis of children's discussions of television, the article identifies several criteria that children use to mark out what is distinctively 'for children', as compared with older age groups. However, it argues that these distinctions between 'adulthood' and 'childhood' are socially constructed; and that, in the increasingly competitive environment of contemporary media, age may be becoming a valuable symbolic commodity in its own right.