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Citation |
Jordan AB, Schmitt KL, Woodard EH. J. Appl. Dev. Psychol. 2001; 22(1): 87-101. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2001, Elsevier Publishing) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
This article examines the impact of public policy on the quality and availability of educational television for children. Three episodes of each of the 44 educational and informational (E/I) programs offered by the commercial broadcasters in the Philadelphia television market during the 1998/1999 season were examined for: target audience, primary lesson, episode focus, educational strength, social diversity, and violence. The evaluations reveal that the majority of programs are targeted to the elementary school-age child. Most programs airing on a network-affiliated station center on prosocial issues. An examination of the individual episodes reveals that there are very few school-related topics included in programs for children over the age of 12. Strong E/I programs contained little violent content and offered children images of both girl and boy characters. The article suggests ways to explore the impact of educational television on the developing child and strategies for reaching children (and parents) with more diverse educational offerings. |