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 CHAPTER
1

The of Children’s
History Use
of Electronic Media

HAEJUNG PAlK
University of Oklahoma

For every new communication medium that tific Advisory Committee, i972) and 1980s
has appeared and spread
widely, people have (Pearl, Bouthilet, & Lazar, 1982). More re-
expressed concerns regarding the effects of cently, with the increase in the purchase of
the medium, especially on children and young video games and in response to the amount of
adolescents. In the 19205 and 1930s, when time children and young adolescents
motion spend on
pictures matured into a major mass the Internet, the same concerns
medium and moviegoing became a national
driving are
studies on the social
impacts of such interac-
pastime for family entertainment, questions tive communication media
were raised and charges were
(Turow, 1999).
made about the Before one can begin to understand the
possible harmful effects on children. This led role that each medium
plays in children’s and
to the Payne Fund
studies, a scientific assess- early adolescents’ lives, it is important to
ment of the effects of movie viewing on chil- know what each medium is and how it is used.
dren and
youth in the late 19205. Next came To that end, some of the basic questions that
radio; a special committee was established in must be considered are as follows: When was
the 19305 to study the effects of radio pro- the medium invented? How did the medium
grams on children’s emotions, learning, and distribute
social
across
society? And what happened
adjustment (Gruenberg, 1933). When to other existing media when the new medium
television sets diffused into American
rapidly was first introduced? As for how each me-
households, the same concerns resulted in a dium is used, the
series of studies
questions include who
in the late 1950s (Schramm, watches, how much, when, what programs,
Lyle, & Parker, 1961); a report by the Presi- why, how, and with whom?
dent’s Commission on the Causes and Preven- In this
tion of
chapter, some basic facts are pre-
Violence, a media task force, in the late sented about
the history and children's use of
1960s (Baker & Ball, 1969); and a federal in-
electronic media—movies, radio, television
quiry in the 19705 (Surgeon General’s Scien-
(including cable television), and interactive
 8 THE POPULAR MEDIA OF GROWING CHILDREN

media (e.g., computers, video games, educa- versions of and fire

Niagara Falls, engines rac-
tional software, and the Internet)—in the down It
ing a street. was in 1903 that Edwin S.
United States. (Audio recorders, videocassette Porter, in his film The Great Train Robbery,
recorders, compact discs, and so on are dis- introduced the two elements of story and edit-
cussed in later chapters.) Each medium will and it
ing, was not until 1915 when D. W.
be considered in a chronological order—when Griffith used
sophisticated shooting scenes of
it was first invented or when it became mass and editing in his film Birth ofa Nation that
communication. Although this strategy is sim- cinema showed
techniques maturity. By the
ple and conventional, it must be followed with time of World War I, film became
widely ac-
the understanding that each successive new cepted as a means of family entertainment,
medium does replace the previous com-
not and in the mid-1920s, continued technical im-
munication media. For example, in today's made with
provements were to keep up the
“new media environment,” many “old" media competition from radio. By the end of the de-
coexist with “new” media. As such, the dis- cade, almost all films were “talkies," making
cussion will also involve how each new me- them even more attractive.
dium has affected the role played by the exist- In 1926, the average movie
weekly atten-
ing media. Furthermore, given the richness of dance was 60 million, and in 1929 it reached
the history and use of each medium, it is sim- 95 million (see Figure 1.1). Attendance (and
ply impossible to do justice to any of the ex- profits) began falling in the depression years
amined media in the limited space of a
single only to climb back up to 85 million in 1936,
chapter. Therefore, the interested reader is holding relatively steady throughout World
simply referred to the later chapters in this War II. During the 19405, going to a movie
book for a more thorough consideration of was just as much a part of American life as
each medium and of the various issues sur-
watching television is today. The dramatic
rounding them. in 1947, and movie attendance
change came
plummeted to its lowest level in 1971. Al-
though attendance has been slowly creeping
Movies up, the increase has been insignificant in com-
parison with the gigantic drop preceding it.
The two significant drops noted in Figure
Early Development 1.1 are associated with numerous factors.
However, the dates of these drops—l930 and
It is reasonable to state that film was the l946—coincide with the dates at which radio

:
first mass medium that
appeared on the social and television, made their
respectively, pro-
scene.
Although in its
early years there was nounced on the media scene. It is
appearance
little about the film technology that could be
interesting that the first drop in movie atten-
considered electronic, it is fair to classify the dance reversed in
was
quickly just a few
current design as one of the electronic media. years, while the second drop (mostly due to
Several major discoveries and technological television) has been a great deal slower in its
innovations from 1824 to 1896 led to the de- recovery, increasing only moderately over a

velopment of the cinema. They included a period of some three decades.

better understanding of the human perceptual
system and of the persistence of vision and the

I
development of photography, which in turn Children and the Movies
led to the invention of the motion picture cam-
era and projection techniques.
Following the introduction of sound tech-
At first, cinemas simply pictures that
were
nology, the notion of the cinemas for children
appeared to move, such as horse races, various began to crystallize. However, many talking
 History of Children ‘s Media Use 9

(millions)
Attendance
Weekly
Average
O _u_...|i..i.l_._L..._l...l...\.4_._J_._._i_ii..I._I. .1...I...l,.,|...I.i_,4_,..1...|...i.
1 926 1 938 1950 1 962 1974 1 986 1 998
Year

Figure 1.1. Movie Attendance, 1926-1998

SOURCE: Film Facts (1980, Facts an File) and 1987, I993 I/.5. Ecurmmic Review (Motion Picture Association).

pictures were seen as too mature for children animated feature-length film in color and with
in terms languageof theme. Thus, theand music, which appealed to large audiences of
practice of separate viewing for children on all age and social
groups classes. Besides ani~
selected or recommended films began, usually mated films
features, such as Little Miss
on Saturday momings or
early afternoons. Marker (1934), The Wizard 0f0z (1939), and
This was initiated by a sense of social respon- Lassie Come Home (1943) attracted a wide
sibility, in conjunction with commercial rea-
range of family audiences.
sons (Bazalgette & Staples, 1995). Even In 1929, the average attending child was

though through these matinee screenings the 1.6 movies per week
(Cressey, 1934), but that
movie theaters were able to get an audience at number differs widely considering age and
a time when they would otherwise be idle, the gender. In particular, adolescents attended
industry
children
soon
producing films for
learned
unprofitable. Instead, the indus
was
that movies
dren.
more

Dale
frequently than younger
(1935) indicated that
chil~
early-
��3
try exerted its efforts in developing a new
elementary-school-age children attended the
genre, the family film, attracting both adults movies roughly two times a month (or 0.5
and children. In 1937, Walt Disney released times a week), whereas high school and mid-
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first and upper—elementary-schoolstudents at-
 10 THE POPULAR MEDIA OF GROWING CHILDREN

tended once a week. This is consistent with liked western, war, comedy, and adventure
Charters’s (1933) study in which older chil- while
program types, girls favored a some-
dren 8 to 19 years old were found to attend what different list, namely, comedy, musical,
movies more than twice as frequently as and love and romance For the
program types.
children 5 to 8 years old. Further-
younger youngest study (fifth graders), both
in the
more, these studies found that boys attended boys and girls preferred cartoons, comedy
movies more than girls did. features, and westerns. However, starting
The attendance patterns have changed in from grade 7, program preferences between
more recent times. The data for Table 1.1 are
boys and girls were different.
very Boys
from The Kids Study, by Simmons Market Re- started favoring adventure and con-
programs
search (1995), based on 2,118 children 6 to 14 tinued to favor and
war western movies,
years old. Unlike earlier data, Table 1.1 shows whereas girls began
prefer musicals to
and
that girls are more frequent moviegoers than love and romance movies. Interestingly, but
boys. As for age dependence, the results de- perhaps not surprising, program preferences
pend on the frequency of moviegoing itself. In did not change significantly when radio made
general, 9- to ll-year-olds go to movies more its appearance.
frequently than both younger (ages 6-8) and
older (ages 12-14) children; this pattern ap-
plies to both genders. However, among the Radio
frequent moviegoers (i.e., two or more times
in the last 30 days or five or more times in the
last 90 days), attendance increases with age Early Development
for both boys and girls. The attendance pat-
tern becomes further convoluted when differ- Radio developed out of scientific advances
ent program types are taken into account. (In made in the field ofelectricity and magnetism.
order to keep the chapter focused and con- In 1897, Guglielmo Marconi received a patent

tained, other variables such as socio- for wireless the

race, telegraphy, beginning of ra-
economic status, family background, and so dio. In 1919, Marconi sold its American sub-
forth will not be considered.) sidiary to General Electric, which became Ra-
dio Corporation of America. In 1920, KDKA
in Pittsburgh went on the air, hoping to sell ra-
Program Preferences dio receivers. After a slow start, sales of ra-

dios reached about a half million in 1924.

According to a study by Witty, Garfield, Soon advertisers realized that, unlike movies,

-
and Brink (1941), in the early days, teenagers radio offered them direct access to the homes
favored comedy and mystery-type films. Girls of the listeners, and it could be used to pro-
also favored love stories, whereas boys mote products. Stations began selling airtime,
showed a stronger
liking for westerns and and radio broadcasting became a revenue-pro-
newsreels. Older children liked educational ducing business (Barnoux, 1967). To increase
features and newsreels than
more
younger their profitability, groups of stations began
children did. A decade
later, Lyness (1951) working together, sharing the costs of a pro-
reported similar findings. Lyness examined gram and broadcasting the same show on sev-
whether preferences for particular movie eral member stations. This be-
arrangement
types depended on gender and age. He studied tween stations became known as a network

5th-, 7th-, 9th-, and llth-grade boys and girls. and persisted into the television era. In the
Results showed a gender difference in favored 19305 and 1940s, radio flourished, and entire
program types but a more stable preference families could be found sitting by their radios,
across different age groups. Overall, boys enjoying their favorite shows and news. :
 History of Children’: Media Use 11

of Children, Who Went Movies Within the Last 90 Days

TABLE 1.1 Demographic Breakdown to

% Went to Movie: % Went I0 Mnvler 5+ % Went Io Muvier % Went to Muvler 2+

in Lax! 90 Dayr Timer in Last 90 Dayx in Lari 30 Days Timer in La.v130 Dayr

Kids 6-14 69.5 24,7 57.6 37.1

66.1 21.8 55.5 342

Boys 6-14
Girls 6-14 73.1 27.8 59.8 40.1

Kids 6-8 65.9 20.1 52.0 30.3

Kids 9-11 75.2 25.9 60.6 36.8

Kids 12-14 67.7 29.2 60.2 44.1

6-8 60.8 19.1 48.3 28.9

Boys
9-11 721 22.1 58.1 30.7
Boys
12-14 65.8 25.1 60.1 42.7
Boys
Girls 68 7 I .4 22.1 56.0 31.6

Girls 9-11 78.5 29.9 63.2 43.2

Girls 12-14 69.7 31.6 60.2 45.6

SOURCE: Simmons Market Research (1995). Used with permission

N0TE.S11mplc size =
2,113.

The of radio ownership is shown in Radio and Children

growth
It shows that, by 1930, 46% of
Figure 1.2.
American households had a radio, and 10 Radio programs for children havechanged
years later that number had grown to more from being integral an part of everyday life to
radio ownership had al- relatively small segment within the chil-
than 80%. By 1970, a

ready reached 98%, nearly the current owner- dren’s entertainment media. Early radio pro-

ship rate (99%). Of course, one may question grammers recognized the popularity of chil-
the appropriateness of radio ownership as a dren‘s programs by designating a specific
measure of radio’s popularity, for it is entirely time. usually 5:00 to 6:00 P.M., for “children’s
hour." The popularity of these
possible that a great many radios simply sat programs
brought increase in the number of
unused. collecting dust. However, as seen an pro-
from Figure 1.2, the increase in ownership is grams designed for children. For instance, in

matched increase in the num- the New York City area, for chil-
by a comparable programs
ber of radio stations; presumably, this reflects dren increased from 3 in 1928 to 52 by 1934
a growing market meeting the demands of the (Eisenberg, 1936; Jersild, 1939).
that In the mid-1930s, children 9 to 12 years
public. As such, it is reasonable to state

radio‘s has been steadily rising old listened to radio

approximately 2 to 3 hours
popularity
since the time of its inception. It is then inter- a day (DeBoer, 1937', Jersild, 1939). Lyness
esting to contrast the steady growth of radio’s (1952) surveyed third-, fifth-, seventh-, ninth—,
with the complex and tumultuous and eleventh- grade students in 1950 who lived
popularity
movies’ in cities that had radio stations,
pattern of popularity (Figure 1.1); ev- newspapers,
idently, the popularity of radio has been and movie theaters (but no yet). All
television

mostly unaffected by the forces that affected the children, except third—gradeboys, named
movies. radio as their most frequently engaged in
12 THE POPULAR MEDIA OF GROWING CHILDREN

100

80 -

(II
E
.9.
E
on

3 60 —

0
.0
E
3 .

z
‘D

E 4° '

.9
.C
‘L’
Q)

E 20 —

Noncommercial
I

u
. __

0
,.

3
1 920 1940 1 960 1 980 2000
Year

Figure 1.2. Growth of Radio, 1922-1999

Mass Media Bureau, and Federal Communications Commission.
SOURCE: Radio Advertising Bureau,
NOTE: is in and the number of stations is in hundreds.
Ownership percentages,

activity at home in the evening. Overall, for tening 5 hours or more a day. This study
girls time spent listening to radio increased shows that, regardless of television‘s domi-
with age, while for boys it decreased after the nance, at least children were still enjoying ra-

fifth seventh dio. Brown, Childers, Bauman, and Koch

peak around or grade.
Even when television became the main (1990) continued Lyle and Hoffman‘s results
mass medium, the amount of time that chil- (listening to 5 hours of radio daily) from
dren and young adolescents spent listening to 2,056 children 12 to 14 years old. Further-
radio was very similar to earlier radio days. more, they found that, with increasing age,
Confirming radio’s consistent listenership, more time was spent with radio and less with
Lyle and Hoffman (1972) report that, even television.
when television was the most favored me- Such a heavy use of radio among adoles-

dium, among their subjects, half of the first cents exists even in present times, and it has

graders and 80% of the sixth graders reported been explained by many providing teenag-
as

listening to radio on the preceding day. Fur- ers with acceptable social cues; as giving
24% of tenth graders reported lis- them something of interest to discuss with
thermore,
 History of Children '.r Media Use 13

their friends (Brown, Eicher, & Petrie, 1986); ers; sports for seventh and ninth graders; and
as important
an source for socialization music for the eleventh graders.
(Adoni, 1979; Mendelsohn, 1964); and even By the early 1950s, as television was be-
as a way of rebellion against parental norms coming a major threat to radio, radio lost
and a search for identification with peers much of its drama and comedy programming
rather than with adults (Golinko, 1984). Re- to television. This led the radio programmers
gardless of the explanations, it appears that to shift their emphasis to music programs,
television did not significantly affect (and has with a few features, a little news, and com-
not affected) the time children and adoles- mercials. These
programming changes were
cents spent with radio. well received
by children. Christenson and
DeBenedittis (1986) asked first through fifth
graders why they liked to listen to radio. More
Program Preferences than 83% gave a response that referred to the
musical content of the medium, and only 25%
In 1937, Clark (1939) obtained data from referred seeking information.
to In their study,
children 9 to 18 years old on their radio-listen- no significant gender or age difference in grat-

ing patterns. The study showed that whether ification was found.
children listened to a program was largely de- More recently, in 1993, Arbitron con-

termined by the broadcast time of the show. ducted a special diary pilot study to measure
week- radio-listening habits 2- to 11-year-
Programs aired at evening hours during among
days were the most frequently mentioned pro- olds and adults in their households (Patchen,
grams. Regarding the programs aired in those Burgess, & Cralley, 1994). It was found that,
hours, girls 15 to 18 listened more to romantic in addition to children's programs, children
and historical dramatizations than boys of the listened to other programs such as news/talk,
than album rock, and oldies. The
same age; boys listened more girls to country or even

dance, and novelty With study speculates that some of these programs
popular, programs.
the increase of
age, both boys and girls are not the child’s choice but that of their par-
showed less interest in and greater dislike for ents. In fact, these were programs heard in the
children’s programs. It was clear, then, that, car while driving. The finding is similar to

within a given broadcast time, age and gender what Clark (1939) had found earlier: Program
influence the degree of preference for certain choices are often not determined by any pro-
listener attribute but, rather, by the
types of content. gram or

Another study by Lyness (1951) also time (and location) of listening.

in gender differences
As for in contemporary
showed slight gender and age difference
a

program choice. The two most preferred pro- times, Wells and Hakanen (1991) found a
comedy and mystery plays gender difference in gratification.They found
gram types were
for both boys and girls of all ages (except for that female teenagers made greater use of mu-

fifth—gradeboys, whose first choice was west- sic for mood management (mood enhancing
ern shows). The gender difference appeared at or tranquilizing) than their male counterparts.
the most highly rated function of
the third most preferred program type: Girls For males,
radio get excited. This is very similar to
preferred drama and music, while boys en- was to

joyed adventure shows and sports. The age the findings of Larson, Kubey, and Colletti
difference within each gender was also at the (1989), who found that males listen to music

level of the third most that excites them, while preferfemales ballads
preferred program type:
For girls, fifth through ninth graders enjoyed and love songs. The authors
speculated that

drama, while eleventh graders preferred mu- such needs (getting excited) are leading teen-

sic. For boys, the third most preferred pro- age boys to turn away from radio to other al-

gram type was adventure shows for fifth grad- ternative sources for defiant rock music. If
14 THE POPULAR MEDIA OF GROWING CHILDREN

true, that wouldteenage girls use

imply that covered quiz shows, soap operas,
comedies,
radio more than teenage boys do; in fact, that suspense variety shows, and west-
programs,
implication has been confirmed by many, in- erns, The similarity resulted mostly from the
cluding Carroll and colleagues (1993). migration of the early developers of television
programming (i,e., technicians, writers, direc-
tors, actors, musicians, and singers) from the

Television world of radio (Whetmore, 1981).

The “golden age" of television, the 19505,
was a period marked by tremendous growth
and innovation. With the end of the FCC’s
Early Development
freeze and the cost of TV sets dropping to the

When television was first developed in the point where most moderately affluent families
1920s and 1930s, the film and radio industries could afford one, ownership in-
television

looked on it as more of a novelty than a threat. creased exponentially (see Figure 1.3). Dur-
Close to 3 years after radio broadcasting be- ing this period, television broadcast began at
of 7:00 A.M. and continued till past midnight.
came a reality in 1920, a primitive version
an all-electronic television system was avail- The early morning programs consisted of
able. In 1928, telecasting began on an experi- news summaries and feature stories aimed at

mental basis, without commercials or an audi- families preparing to go to work. Programs

ence. This was followed by its first major from 9:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. were directed at

demonstration at the 1939 World‘s Fair housewives and featured game shows, house-
public
and the first telecasting in 1941.
commercial hold hints, light interviews, romantic dramatic

In 1934, Congress passed the Communica- series, variety shows, and discussions of fam-

tions Act, empowering the Federal Communi- ily and community problems. Following that
the children's hour. From 6:30 to 8:00
cations Commission (FCC) with regulatory li- was

censing responsibilities. A11 broadcasters P.M., programs were designed to appeal to

were (and are) required to maintain an FCC li- both adults and children; they included news,
cense, and the granting of the license was sports, and puppet and musical shows. From
based on frequency availability and the pub- 8:00 to P.M., the programs
11:00 included
1ic’s interest. drama, variety shows, talent and quiz compe-
Television have off to faster titions, and sports events. The closing hours
might gotten a

it not for the the growth started at 11:00 P.M. with by news, followed
start were depression,
of the film industry, and World War II. During feature films and goodnight chat (UNESCO,
a

the war, the FCC placed a freeze on the forma- 1953). This format has changed little into the
tion of new television stations, and most ef- present day.
forts were redirected away from television to

other war-related technologies. However, at

the end of the war, the technologies devel- Children and Television 0
oped during the war were applied to the tele-
A detailed breakdown of the daily viewing
vision industry. At that point, it was becoming
evident that television would constitute a seri- audience in the autumn of 1951 shows that

ous threat to movies and radio (Barnoux, children were watching television throughout
the day, and their choices were not limited to
1990).
The structure of early television was mod- children's programs (just as in radio). About
eled after that of radio, It had three television 30% of the children under age 16 were watch-
network systems—the National Broadcasting ing television reaching maxi-
at 9:00 A.M,,
at 5200 RM., and falling to less than
Company (NBC), the Columbia Broadcasting mum

System (CBS), and the American Broadcast- 8% around 10:00 P.M. (UNESCO, 1953).
also fc
ing Company (ABC)—and a spectrum that Children watching adult programs were
 History ofChildren '5 Media Use 15

Households
Total
O)0

of
8

Percentage
20

19'5o 1955 19750 19%5 1 970 15575 19230 1585 1590 19'9s \1998
Year

Figure 1.3. Growth of TV Ownership: Total, Multiset, Color. and Cable

SOURCE: I986: The Telm/ision Audience (A.C. Nielsen and I998
Company) Rqmrr mi Televirlnn (Nielsen Media Research). Used
with permissiani

found by Schramm et al. (1961). Their results watch than 3 hours

more
daily (Nielsen Media
showed that sixth- grade children were already Research, 1998).
spending 80% of their viewing time on pro- As children grow, regular television view-
grams that were intended for adult viewers; ing increases during the preschool years (with
even in first grade, nearly 40% of the viewing a slight decrease when children are going to
time was devoted to adult Of
programs. school), rises up to early adolescence, and fi-
course, heavy exposure to television did not
nally decreases during teenage years
begin at first grade. (Comstock, Chaffee, Katzman, McCombs, &
Children were (and are) exposed to tele- Roberts, 1978; Johnstone, 1974; Larson &
vision as early as 6 to 12 months old, and Kubey, 1985; Rubin, 1977; Schramm et al.,
these children responded to television for an 1961). For example, Rubin (1977) found that
average of l to 2 hours a day (Hollenbeck & television viewing declined sharply as adoles~
Slaby, 1979). Studies report that about one cents moved through the high school years.
fourth of 2-year-olds and two thirds of 4-year- The peak in viewing was reached at age 9, and
olds spend 2 to 4 hours a day watching tele~ from 9 to 17, the time teenagers spent with
vision (Comstock & Paik, 1991; Friedrich & television declined.
Stein, 1973; Roberts & Bachen, 1981; Singer Such decrease
a in television consumption
& Singer, 1981). As recently as 1998, it was has been explained by the development status
found that young children as early as age 2 of adolescents, which is the product of chro-
16 THE POPULAR MEDIA OF GROWING CHILDREN

nological, biological, or cognitive growth of others such as family members or peers.

(Wartella, Alexander, & Lemish, 1979). The Furthermore, there are other factors that dic-

general notion for development and media use tate what actually watches,
one such as

is that development creates both needs and re- whether preferred program
a is available, time
sources for differential use of mass media by availability, or broadcast time. Rosengren and
children and adolescents. Developmental sta- Windahl (1989) have pointed out that prefer-
tus influences media choice, degree of media ences are more an expression of the individual
use, and the media content. For teenagers who and the stage of development attained rather
would like to identify with their peers, the im- than a predictor for actual viewing. With this
ages television portrays are remote from them understanding, the following deals with pref-
since television aims for the largest possible erences in television viewing.
audience, making many adolescents grow in- Program preferences appear very early, al-
creasingly distant from the mainstream focus most as soon as children begin to view tele-
of this appeal and looking for other me-
start vision. Preschool children generally prefer the
dia, such as radio (Larson & Kubey, 1985). shows designed specifically for them, such as
And what about gender differences in the those involving animals, animated characters,
viewing time of contemporary children? The or puppets, all in story form with full action,
answer is complex and controversial, and will and frequently involving laughter (Lyle &
be discussed chapters. Briefly,
in later there is Hoffman, 1972; Schramm et al., 1961). As
some evidence that
gender differences in tele- children mature, program preferences become
vision viewing typically appear around 4 or 5 more diversified, and they begin to favor adult
years of age and increase with age (Bianchi & programs as well. In fact, as early as 1951
Robinson, 1997; Carpenter, Huston, & Spera, (Maccoby, 1951), it was known that all age
at

1989; Singer & Singer, 1981). On the other levels children watch television during hours
hand, data from Nielsen Media Research that are exclusively devoted to children's
not

show no gender difference for ages 2 to 11 programs, indicating that they are exposed to
(Condry, 1989). Huston,
Wright, Marquis, a variety of adult programs. Naturally, as chil-
and Green (1999), from their 3-year longitudi- dren shift their program preferences toward
nal study, also find no significant gender dif- more adult programming, program prefer-
ference in children 2 to 4. The studies by ences become more diverse. A more recent

Mauldin and Meeks (1991) and Timmer, study by Adler and his colleagues (1980),
Eccles, and O'Brien (1985), however, show based analysis of Nielsen data for 1973,
on an

that, for 3- to 11-year-olds, boys watched confirms that

only 3 of the top 15 shows fa-
more television than girls did, but only on vored by children were Saturday morning of-
weekends. These diverse findings simply sup- ferings; the remainder were prime—timeshows
port the initial response; any gender differ- aimed at adults. In short, children's content

ence is apt to depend on numerous other fac- preferences increasingly approximate adult
tors. patterns.
The question then arises as to why children
prefer adult
programs. As Wartella et al.
Program Preferences (1979) explained, it may well be that, in gen-
eral, television viewing happens in a family
Whatpeople state as their preference and context, and it is easy
imagine that other to

what they actually watch can be very differ- family members’ preferences can
norms and
ent. As a result, there is always a danger of influence a child's preferences. There are few
misinterpreting the relationship between pref- programs offered for 9- to 11-year-old chil-
erence and actual consumption. Especially dren, and that may be why children are tuning
when it comes to children's television use, of- to adult programs. From the child develop-
ten preferences are influenced by the opinions mental perspective, early adolescence is when
 History ofChildren'.r Media Use 17

children strive to orient themselves to the was purchased as a single unit and was placed
adult world, and adults‘ programs, more than in the living room. Television brought fami-
adult lies together and made family members spend
children's, satisfy such needs. Watching
television adds to one’s status in more time at home with one another. How-
programs
despite being together in one room. fam-
peer grouprelationships. ever,

Finally, program preference is determined ilies conversed they had before tele-
less than

to a large degree by motivation and reasons vision, and when they did talk to each other,
for viewing. Schramm et al. (1961) listed frequently it was in regard the disagreement
to

three reasons why children watch television: over program choices (McDonagh, l950;
(a) the passive pleasure of being entertained Stewart, 1952).
and living a fantasy; (b) the information that Since the 1950s, there has been a steady in-
in the number of homes with than
they frequently gain from television even crease more

television According to Nielsen Me-

without necessarily seeking information; and one set.

social utility function, accord- dia Research. in 1998, 74% of U.S. house-
(c) television's
holds had than television set (see
ing to which television provides a subject of more one

conversation or a reason to be with other peo- Figure 1.3). With multiple television sets,
different there have been that television view-
ple. They noted that television offers concerns

but sug- will be isolated

private experi- and
gratifications to different children ing a more

For days, parents in modern

gested that stimulating fantasy seeking and ence. example,
fantasy behavior is the primary role of tele- are being excluded from the viewing experi-
vision for children. Thus, much of the inci- ence. Lawrence and Wozniak (1989) sur-
l50 children 6 to 17 years old
dental learning may be a by—product
of fanta- veyed about

sizing. and found that entire family viewing is infre-

Later, Greenberg (1974) surveyed children quent, and as much as two thirds of their
time is with siblings. When they do
9, 12, and 15 years old to investigate their mo- viewing
tivation for television. Nine-year watch with parents, it is mostly with the
watching
relaxation father. Another study of than 300 chil-
olds showed thatleaming and were more

significant motivations for

watching tele- dren ages 3 to coviewing de-
5 shows that
vision. As for l2- and 15-year-olds, the use of clines with age, and the majority of children's
television for time and habit are watched without parents (St.
passing as a programs
emerged strongly and was associated with Peters, Fitch, Huston, Wright, & Eakins,
watching all kinds of television content. In 1991).
short, there are (at least) six different reasons One may wonder why children’s isolated
for television (Rubin, 1977): to learn, viewing should be of concern. There are nu-
viewing
to pass time or as a habit, for companionship, merous responses, but one important reason

for arousal, and for relaxation. It ap- for concern is the possibility that television
to forget,
pears that younger children identify with can become a distraction from other activities,
these reasons more strongly than do older a source of exposure to antisocial behavior,
habit is and also void of any prosocial value. Indeed,
ones, but
viewing as a pastime or as a

the for viewing television when watch television

children with siblings,
predominant reason
across the age groups. the programs they watch are more entertain-
ment and comedy oriented, and very early
they abandon watching more informative pro-
However, children tend to view infor-
Viewing Context grams.
mative programs, and for longer periods,
Whether children watch television with when an adult is present (Wright, St. Peters, &
family members, siblings, peers, or alone is a Huston, 1990). Though it may be true that
significant component of the viewing experi- fantasizing or arousal alone can have an edu-
ence. In the 1940s and early 1950s, television cational by—product, it is unlikely that infor-
18 THE POPULAR MEDIA OF GROWING CHILDREN

mation gained in such fashion can be of any Cable and Children

long-lasting value.
Families with cable services have better re-

ception of network broadcast programs and

have access to a wide range of programs tar-
Cable Television
geting more narrowly defined audiences, in-
cluding children. Indeed. the number of net-
Television-related technologies such as ca- works with children’s programming has
ble television have changed the way people increased from four networks (ABC, CBS,
use television in American households. Cable NBC, and Public Broadcasting Service [PBS])
television began in late 1948 as a service to to seven (the four networks plus Fox, United
households in mountainous or geographically Paramount Network [UPN], and Warner
remote areas where reception of over—the-air Brothers [WB]). Plus, there are now chil-
television signals was poor. However, the ca- dren’s cable television channels (Nickel-
ble industry soon realized that additional pro- odeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Net-
the

gramming choices could be offered by im- work) family-oriented networks that carry
and

porting signals from distant stations into some children’s programming (Turner Broad-
markets that were served by only one or two casting System [TBS], USA Network, the
local stations. Discovery Channel, Turner Network Televi-
It is interesting that, contrary to common sion [TNT], Music Television [MTV], Arts
belief, when television became a mass me- and Entertainment Channel [A&E], and the
dium, the percentage of the American house- Family Channel).
holds using over-the-air television was com- Given the expanded content available on

cable television, the question of what children

parable to that subscribing to cable television
(see Figure 1.3). The major difference in the watch arises again. Over a period of three Sat-

emergence of the two media in the early years urdays, Heeter (1988) surveyed 153 house-
was the exponential growth of the former as holds with cable, 40 of which had children
the steady linear growth of the under 18. The share of viewing time to differ-
compared to
latter. Still, the gradual increase in cable tele- ent types of channels revealed that the house-
vision subscription was sufficient to bring the holds with children watched more network
broadcast industry’s attention to its potential programming (61% of viewing time on aver-
competition. This led to the FCC’s placing re- age) compared with the other households
strictions on cable-delivered programming, (36%). Network programming during the
from 1966 to 1972, to protect the broadcast in- sample period (8:00 AM. to noon) was made
dustry in the public’s interest. up exclusively of shows targeted to children.
In 1972, the restrictive policies on cable As expected, other households watched more

relax. This
brought the launch of the nonnetwork off-air channels. However, chan-
began to

nation's first pay-TV network, Home Box nels availableonly over cable attracted one

Offlce (HBO), in 1975. HBO, using satellite third of the

viewing time of households with

interconnections, brought into the home Hol- children, indicating that children watched
the fact that there
lywood films, made-for-television movies, those channels despite were

and special entertainment programming not children’s programs on network channels. In-

formerly available to television audiences. terestingly, households without children that

This was the beginning of a national satellite watched television on Saturday mornings
distribution system that brought a pronounced watched for as much time as households with

growth of services to subscribers. In addition children.

to three television networks, cable television When Heeter conducted the
study, Nickel-
has carried 24-hour channels dedicated to odeon, for example, drew only 2% of the
news, sports, music, children, and more. viewing share. However, more recently, tele-
 I-Iirtury of Children '5 Media Use 19

vision broadcast networks have begun losing cial consequences. And, naturally, the effects
viewers to of- on children and adolescents have been of par-
Saturday morning programs
A survey ticular Ever since their
appearance,
fered on children‘s cable channels. concern.

reports that, in the 1996-1997 season, children computers have been enthusiastically used by
of 21 1 hours of ba- children and adolescents. Given the rapid
2 to 11 watched an average
sic cable programming, while they watched pace at which children are adopting and using
hours of broadcast television computers, and considering the possible edu-
only 48
cational social effects that possibly may be
(Petrozzello, 1998). This shift from broadcast or

because more effective than television, it behooves re-

to cable is partially more programs
and time are allocated to children's programs searchers to examine this new relationship.
on basic cable than they are on broadcast tele- Research in this area, however, is still in its in-
fancy, and so little can be said with great cer-
vision.
of children’s result, much of the following dis-
Given the proliferation shows tainty. As a

cussion is based
only one source, the
on cable rarity of family viewing, in
and the on

Current Population Survey results conducted

conjunction with the finding that isolated chil-
dren tend to view mostly entertainment and by the U.S. Census Bureau (1999). A more in-
will ensue in later chapters
comedy shows, the same concerns arise as in depth discussion
the early days of television. In other words, it of this book.
of children’s that Census study, 36.6% of
is possible that the increase According to

American households had computers in 1997.

shows on cable does not imply a higher qual-
The data also show that personal computer
ity of viewing. For example, it has been found
for households with children
that children with cable watch more cartoons penetration
51%, while the same number
than children without cable do (simply be- (ages 6-17) was

for households with children was 31%.

cause cable offers cartoons on weekdays and no

This that the of a child in a

weekends, whereas most broadcast stations implies presence
have only on weekends;
cartoons Huston & household is strong predictor of computer
a

As a result, children with cable ownership. What is equally interesting is that,

Wright, 1996).
with a substantial increase in computer use for
view fewer child-informative programs.
all segments of the population, far more chil-

dren have been using computers than adults

(74.4% vs. 47.1%; see Figure 1.4).

Computer-Based Media When the householder’s attributes are con-
_—ja:
sidered, the educational background the of

The introduction of television into American householder emerges as a strong predictor of

in
households marked a transition that allowed computer ownership; 15% of the children
in the world of households where the householder had less
for an entirely new experience
than a high school education had a computer,
mass Today, yet another novel transi-
media.
with 80% of the children in house-
tion is taking place, namely the introduction compared
holds where the householder had a bachelor’s
of computer-based technologies into homes.
The major and significant difference between degree or higher (U.S. Census Bureau, 1999).
these novel media and other mass media is the It is likely that parents purchase computers
active involve- with their children's education in mind. In
level of interaction and
high
fact, data suggest that home computers are
ment that is called for. The impressive growth
to their used mostly for running educational software.
of these media is a testament popular-
with which Table 1.2 indicates the home computer uses of
ity, and it is the interactive element
the old media must children 3 to 17. It shows that, for the entire
compete.
interactive media for both genders, and all income
The effects of these on age range,
of active research levels, the highest-ranking purpose for using
society have been a topic
because of the possibility of adverse or benefi- computers is education.
 20 THE POPULAR MEDIA OF GROWING CHILDREN

80 ~

D Households with computers

8
Adult use at home/school/work
60 —

I Children's use at home/school

is‘
E
3,-,40 +
E
O.

E
0

20 —

0
1984 1989 1993 1997

Figure 1.4. Computer Presence in the Home, and Use

SOURCE:
Anywhere, by Year
U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey (October 1984, I989. 1993, 1997).

Educational Software ors, animal sounds, and nursery rhymes. For

toddlers, programs teach numbers and vocab-
Educational programs for children have ulary while
developing computer mouse
been one of the primary categories in the per- skills. Some of these
sonal market since the technology
programs are spin—offsof
computer television and cable programs for children 12
became available. Such early spread of educa- to 18 months (e.g., Play With the Teletubbies
tional software is promising since it shows from PBS and the British
that the use of personal Broadcasting Com-
computers goes be- pany [BBC] and Blue‘: Clues from Nickel-
yond the entertainment function of commer-
odeon). According to the numbers in Table
cial television,
expanding the educational op- 1.2, the edutainment movement has been ex-
portunities for children.
tremely successful in securing the children’s
The software market has been
producing market.
“edutainment” (education +
entertainment) Although at first teenagers posed a difficult
programs for children.
Typical programs for challenge, the software
6- to 9-month-old infants involve
industry was soon
shapes, col- able to capture that segment of the market as
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 22 THE POPULAR MEDIA OF GROWING CHILDREN

well. In 1993, about 30% ofchildren 3 to when video

ages games first became popular, stud-
17 were using computers for educational ies
pro- reported a wide range of times spent on
grams (U.S. Census Bureau, 1995); the same video games. Selnow (1984) found that
heavy
number in l997 was more than 90%. In fact, players spent 4.5 hours per week
playing
in I997, the most frequent use of home com-
games at arcades, while light players were
puters for teenagers was for educational pro- spending under 30 minutes per week. (Inter-
grams (U.S. Census Bureau, 1999). There has estingly, he also found that
heavy users of ar-
been a tremendous increase in the use of edu- cade video games were also heavy television
cational software children and adoles-
among viewers.) More recently, Funk (1993), in his
cents. The growth is mostly the result of a
survey of 900 fourth through eighth graders,
wider variety of edutainment
packages with found a playing time that ranges from no time
much-improved graphics and story lines to more than 10 hours per week. One explana-
(Pete, 1996). That accomplishment is even tion for the wide variation in time use is that
more impressive with the realization that initial heavy playing of video games occurs
closely competing with educational purposes when asystem is new to a home, and within a
is the use of home computers for simply play- few weeks video game playing normalizes to
ing games (Table 1.2). much lighter play periods (Creasey & Myers,
1986).
Game preferences, too, have been investi-
Video Game:
gated. Funk (1993) surveyed 357 seventh and
eighth graders and found that the most popu-
The first interactive video lar
games origi- game category was
fantasy violence
nated in 1962. In the 1970s, computers were (32%), followed by sports (29%), general en-
mostly mainframe computers and, thus, inac- tertainment (20%), human violence (17%).
cessible to most people. During that time, and educational games (2%). The same study
video played in video arcades.
games were also found significant gender differences in
Then, in 1972, microcomputer in-
games were
game habits and in self-perceptions. In partic-
troduced alongside arcade systems, by and the ular, boys spent more time playing video
|980s, even home computers thought of
were
games and favored more violent As
games.
as game computers. In the mid-1980s, video for girls, those who played more games were
game popularity surged until the overload of likely to show signs of low self-esteem. In a
similar games led to a decline in interest and more recent analysis of video game prefer-
sales. But in the late l980s, the Nintendo the
sys- ences, authors
same (Buchman & Funk,
tem was introduced—a computer solely for 1996) analyzed 900 children in fourth through
games—and the video game industry re- ninth grade and revealed that the highest- and
gained its popularity. In the 19905, with the the lowest-ranking program preferences
growth of CD technology, CD—ROM games found in the earlier study (ie, fantasy vio-
led the market with much-improved graphics lence and educational games, respectively)
and realism. maintained the same ranks. However, the rates
As with other media, the question of who were alarmingly different: Whereas 32% of
plays, and how much, is a complex one. The the earlier sample had shown preference for
answer
depends on numerous other variables. fantasy violence, that rate had increased to
Some simple trends, however, are known. For 50% in the later sample. In the older
age
instance, regarding age and gender, it is groups in the later sample, girls expressed a
known (see Table 1.2) that 87% of younger stronger preference for fantasy (cartoon) vio-
children and 70% of adolescents are playing lence, while boys were more likely to choose
games on
computers, and slightly more boys human
games containing violence.
(87%) are
playing games than girls (79%). As
Although it is highly likely that video
for how much, in the 19805, around the time are here to stay, given their
games short
 History afCIiiltlren '.r Media um 23

it is difficult to anticipate their future Laboratory for Particle

Physics, 1998).
history ropean
consequences. From there, the Web spread rapidly to other
fields and grew to its present impressive size.
A 1998 survey by the NEC Research Insti-

The Internet tute estimated that the Web contained 320

million publicly indexable pages of informa-
The idea of the Internet dates back to the tion and entertainment (Lawrence & Giles,
1950s, but the design
current can be traced to 1998). Just a year later that number had in-

1969 when the Defense creased to 800 million, a 250% increase in the
Department computer
network allowed military contractors and uni- number of web pages (Lawrence & Giles.
versities research exchange 1999). For Internet the challenge
doing military to consumers,

information with each other in an electronic is finding the desired websites, particularly
fashion. However, the birth of the Internet as a since no search engine has indexed more than
domain entity had to await the develop- 16% of the Web.
public
ment of the personal computer by Inter- Even 16% of 800 million pages amounts to

national Business Machines (IBM) in I975- a great deal of information, and the power of

and price reductions

the necessary for mass the Internet lies in allowing ordinary users, in-
in the early 1980s. Finally, in cluding children, to access this vast amount of
affordability
1987, the basic structure of the Internet was information. The 1997 Census data indicate

formed when the National Science Founda- that nearly 20% of children used home com-

tion created a giving researchers

network ac- puters to access the Internet, and more recent

five that research suggests that children and teenagers

cess to Supercomputing centers were

connected to hundreds of other networks op- are the largest growing sectors
two on the

erated by educational institutions, government Internet (Jupiter Communications, 1999). Ac-

agencies, and research organizations (Cozic, cording to statistics from Jupiter Communica-
1997; Hudson, 1997). Today, supercomputers tions, approximately 8.6 million kids (5-12

old) and 8.4 million (13-18

play no role in driving the Internet, for it is al- years teenagers
most entirely based on thousands of ‘‘smaller’' years old) were on-line in 1998. By 2002, it is
and even projected that these numbers will increase to
desktop computers.

puma growing
Since the late 1980s,
rapidly, expanding by 50% every
year in the 1990s. The growth has been en-
the Internet has been 21.9
16.6 million
Kirchner,
million

1999).
children
teens
(a
(almost
155%
a
increase)
100% increase;
and

couraged by ordinary computer users’ interest The uses of the Internet and the various

in the World (WW) Wideand other

Web reasons for children’s use of it are just as var-

-1rv—r—.,
Internet features (Dizard, 2000). The WWW ied as those of other media. The 1997 Census

(also known as the Web), one of many Inter- data suggest that the most frequent purpose of
net-based communication systems, was origi- Internet use by children and adolescents was

and the to find business, health, or edu-

nally conceived developed to meet government,
need for instantaneous information exchange cational information (76%); followed by e-
collabora- mail (57.5%); chat rooms (32%); seeking
between large high-energy physics
tions working in different universities and in- news, weather, and sports information (28%):
stitutes all over the world. That development newsgroups (5%); and taking courses (3%).
has been attributed mostly to Tim Berners- When boys and girls are compared, they tend
Lee and Robert Cailiau, scientists at to use the Internet for similar purposes. How-
computer
the Physics for Particle there are two differences. Boys use the
European Laboratory ever,

than girls for gathering infor-

(CERN), who developed the first Web client Internet more

and the first Web server, mation on weather, and sports (35.4%
(a browser-editor) news,

of the communications soft- 19.7%), while girls the Internet more

along with most vs. use

ware, defining URLs, HTTP, and HTML (Eu- than boys for e-mail (61.6% vs. 54.4%).
 24 THE POPULAR MEDIA OF GROWING CHILDREN

The Internet is truly in its infancy, and if iting with friends, driving for pleasure, partic-
anything has been learned from the history ipation in sport activities, radio listening,
and evolution of other media, it is that during movie attendance, and conversational inter-
times of transition, when a new medium is in- action (McDonagh, 1950). However, in more
troduced, little can be said with certainty. Cur- recent times, even the proliferation of media
rently, the Internet appears to have disturbed content distribution channels (i.e,, multiple
the partial equilibrium that previous media television sets, cable television, and VCRS)
had been enjoying, and, as a result, the media
has changed our behavior
world
only slightly.
appears to be somewhat chaotic. Al- Viewers tend to watch similar programs, or
though only time will tell of the future of the even reruns of the same programs, broadcast
Internet and other media, the policy decisions over the air (Barwise & Ehrenberg, 1988).
that are made now, during this time of turmoil, The viewing behavior follows the same sort of
are apt to affect that future. punctuated pattern in that there are times
when it is erratic, followed
by times of consis-
tent and predictable behavior. The new chan-
nels have, therefore, not revolutionized view-
ConcludingRemarks ing choices or
viewing behavior.
__
Of course, a punctuated in
The
history of me-
history and evolution of media resemble dia, it is still possible to identify some of the
that of species in nature: The introduction of a underlying processes. To survive radio's chal-
new medium (species) typically changes the lenge, the motion picture industry was forced
uses and interactions the existing me-
among to move to sound and later to color films.
dia. This is not
surprising given that the sys- More direct and compelling challenges to
tem consisting of media and ecological sys- movies came from television. Television pro-
tems are both based on very similar
principles vided the entertainment
same function that
(e.g., the survival of the fittest). By the same movies provided but with the added conve-
token, the two systems display some generally nience of delivering programs directly to
common features in their evolution. For ex- homes. To survive this threat, the movie in-
ample, the evolution of ecological systems is dustry had to cooperate with television
marked
by
by what has been termed punctuated providing materials for broadcasting. As for
equilibrium (Eldridge, 1985; Gould, I984); radio, it had to reinvent itself survive
to the
rather than in a steady and
gradual fashion, television challenge. Radio was forced to
changes occur in short-time frames separated move from being a staple at the center of the
by long periods of relative quiescence. This is, living room to becoming
portable and physi-
in fact, how media have evolved as well, Fol- cally going to where television could not. The
lowing the introduction of movies over a short television industry, in an effort to survive with
span of
time, they enjoyed their golden age, multimedia, introduced high—definitiontele-
accompanied by relatively little change, until vision,
radio came
a
breakthrough toward the computer-
along. The evolution of radio, tele- ization of home television sets. This
digital
vision, and interactive media has followed the technology is expected to provide multimedia
same general pattern. Intemet services for the television networks
To illustrate that idea in bit
a more detail, and local stations. Radio, too, has taken the
consider television. In its early days, tele- step toward digital broadcasting in what is re-
vision substantially affected activities. Some ferred to as
digital audio broadcasting.
of the changes were
impressive, if not socially The Internet offers an environment in
significant (e.g., bedtime being postponed which all of these media can coexist. With
about 13 minutes; Schramm et al., 1961).
high-speed Internet connections provided by
Other more significant changes included less either telephone wire, a cable television line,
engagement in activities such as reading, vis- satellite
or a link, new entertainment options
 History of Children 's Media Use 25

such as movies—on—demand,radio, television, the causes and prevention ofviolence (Vol. 9). Wash-

and “live” on-line ington, DC: U.S. Govemment Printing Office.

games against many players
scattered around the globe have become real-
Barnoux, E. (1967). A lower in Babel: History o_/’broazl-
casting in the United States. New York: Oxford
ity. One question that arises is the one that has Press.
University
been visited every time a new medium has Barnoux, E. (1990). Tube ofplenty. New York: Oxford

emerged: namely, that of the effect on chil- University Press.

dren. For example, the interactive and distrib- Barwise, T. P.. & Ehrenberg, A. S. C. (1988). Television
and its audience. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
uted (less centralized) nature of the Internet
Bazalgette, C., & Staples, T. (1995).
Unshrinking the
makes it difficult to monitor children’s use of
kids: Children's cinema family film. In
and the C.
the Internet. The notion of monitoring chil- 8: D.
Bazalgette Buckingham (Eds.), lnfront of the
dren’s usage patterns of media is not new, but children: Screen entertainment and young audiences
(pp. 92-108). London: British Film
what is new is the significantly larger amount Institute.
Bianchi, S. M., & Robinson, J. (1997), What did you do
of informat.ion to be monitored. And what ex-
today? Children's use of time, family composition,
acerbated the problem is that almost all of that
and acquisition of social capital, Journal of Mar-
information is available to children and free of
riage and the Family, 59, 332-344.
charge. Of course, the Internet can serve both Brown, J. D., Childers, K. W., Bauman, K. E., & Koch,
and antisocial functions, but it is dis- G. G. (1990). The influence of media and fam-
prosocial mew

ily structure on young adolescents’ television and

concerting that only 6% of the Internet con-
radio use. Communication Research, 17, 65-82.
tains educational content. That number is
Brown, R. B., Eicher, S. A.. & Petrie,
S. (1986). The im-
more meaningful compared when it is with
portance of peer (“crowd“) affiliation
group in ado-
the 1.5% of the Internet containing porno- lescence. Journal ofAdalescence, 9, 73-96.
graphic material (Lawrence & Giles, 1999). Buchman, D. D., & Funk, J. B. (1996). Video and com-
Given that 800 million web puter in the ‘90s: Children‘s time commit-
pages exist, that games
ment and game preference. Children Today, 24, 12-16.
fraction amounts to 12 million pornographic
Carpenter, C. J., Huston, A. C., & Spera, L. (1989).
pages—clearly unsuitable for children.
Children’s use of time in their everyday activities
The discussion of interactive media in this during middle childhood. In M. Bloch & A.

chapter is incomplete because the jury is still Pellegrini (Eds), The ecological context of chil-
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out on topic, and media is
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