Kids and TV : watching wisely

Abstract

Despite many changes in the media panorama, television continues to assume a significant presence in children’s daily lives. TV is a means of communication that plays an important role in children’s socialization processes. It represents a privileged source of learning and contact with the world. The amount of time young people devote to TV and other forms of communication frequently gives rise to concern among parents, teachers, and educators, who don’t always hold the necessary tools to analyze and understand this reality and act upon it. It is often feared that TV may have an ominous influence on children due to the inappropriate nature and poor quality of many of its programmes. This booklet aims to briefly approach some essential issues concerning the relationship children have with television and point out some hints for action. It was created as part of a project of Media Education and presented to the Evens Foundation in Belgium by researchers of the Communication and Society Research Centre. The project was awarded in 2009 by the Evens Foundation with the sixth prize for Intercultural Education in the field of Media Education. This publication integrates a collection which that intends to provide proactive information to parents to help them promote a more active and critical use of the media by young people.