Empowering children for a critical and judicious use and consumption of media is a main objective of media literacy. This paper aims to examine the range of television programs available for children in Portugal through a comparative analysis of the programming for children broadcast by the four Portuguese terrestrial channels (RTP1, RTP2, SIC and…

Appraises the way in which the broadcasting industry is now promoting toys to children, focusing on structural changes in the broadcasting industry, new ways of financing and distributing programs, aggressive marketing by the toy industry, and the deregulatory climate at the Federal Communications Commission. (MS)

Presents guidelines for the use of humor in children's educational television. Reviews the literature in the following areas: (1) audience attraction; (2) post-choice attention; (3) acquisition of educational information and (4) the viewing experience in hedonic terms. (FMW)

Discusses the state of children's television in Australia and considers possibilities for the future. Topics include regulatory frameworks and requirements for children's programs; imported programming, including animated material; the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; and values promoted to children. (LRW)

The effect that television programs have on the socialization of children is examined. As traditional sources of socialization have declined, and children's viewing of television has dramatically increased, it is important to consider just what children are learning from television programs about the world and their place in it. A study of the…

Students in a children and television course wrote their "television autobiographies" (that is, their relationship with TV). Forty-three students at a mid-size upstate New York college participated. The autobiographies corroborated the results of previous quantitative and qualitative research, but added a personal, more in-depth look at the…

This yearbook compiles information on research findings on children and youth and media violence, as seen from the perspective of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child. The thematic focus of the yearbook is on the influence of children's exposure to media violence. Section 1 of the yearbook, "Children and Media on the…

Followed up on 570 adolescents studied as preschoolers. Found that preschoolers' viewing of educational television programs was associated with achieving higher grades, reading more books, placing more value on achievement, exhibiting greater creativity, and behaving less aggressively as adolescents more consistently for boys than girls. Found…

Teachers are challenged by contradictory demands on curricular time. The social needs children bring to school sometimes collide with basic literacy instruction priorities. This research addressed concerns about television violence via a project that encouraged children to log their television viewing and write in daily journals their perceptions…