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Television (TV) is supposed to have a major impact on the lives of people and it
has been the subject of research and debate ever since the 1940s, when it first
became available. Winick and Winick (1979) and Verma and Larson (2002) refer to TV as
a `member of the family' and suggest that TV constitutes an important
experiential component of a child's development.
Dorr (1986) opines that TV stands out from the other media as it is generally used
more, and can present more life like content than most other media. These
characteristics make the medium have an important bearing for everyone, especially children.
"…today, children born into
television families regard TV as a permanent
fixture in their lives. The TV set is as familiar
as the faces of family members—sometimes even more. Unlike human beings, the
TV set is always there to entertain and keep children company..." (Unnikrishnan
and Bajpai, 1996, p. 35). Davidson (2001) states that TV habits consist of
patterns of behavior determined by the amount of time and importance
that individuals give to watch TV broadcasts and
recorded videos. The present study highlights TV viewing habits amongst urban middle
and upper middle-class children.
Comstock et al. (1978) found that children begin attentive TV viewing
as early as two years of age. Avid viewing continues throughout childhood,
with viewing peaking around pre-adolescence (11 to 12 years) and then comes
down when the child reaches high school. The experience bank that each child
builds is affected by what the child is exposed to and influenced
by. This is mostly contributed by TV and such,
traditional institutions like home and school are
contributing less (Winick and Winick, 1979). It has been noted that children
and adolescents spend most of the time watching TV than engaging in formal
education (Guthrie, 1983). TV is becoming a potentially stronger socializing agent
than peers and teachers, due to childrens' extensive viewing (Huston et al., 1989). |
