Television: Its Impact on School Children.

Recent studies have shown that children in homes with television (TV) spend very considerable amounts of time watching TV programs. The article explores the impact of TV on children and consequences related to the evolution of television, such as, effects of this massive exposure to a new mass medium on developing personality of a child; on relationships within the family; and on social interaction among children. The study is based upon "open-ended" interviews with 332 mothers of school children in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The sample was confined to families with children between ages of four and seventeen. Mothers were asked to describe any problems which arise in their homes in connection with television, and to discuss how these problems have been handled. The sample includes both families which have television and families which do not. For comparing the typical activities of television children with those of non-television children, these groups were matched with respect to age, sex, and socio-economic status. Some of the findings are presented here. Ownership of television in Cambridge is clearly related to the family's income, education, and occupation. Professional people are not buying TV because they do not like the programs and are apprehensive about its effect on their children. Bedtime is a fairly serious problem for TV parents, and children in TV homes go to bed later than children of the same age in homes without TV. As compared with other activities at home, TV is absorbing, contrary to some claims, children do not spend more time with children of their own age once they have television.