This course is no longer offered

10631 Growing-up with Television: The Little Screen in the Lives of Children and Youth

Credits: 3 intermediate credits in Communication or in Education

Prerequisites: none

Required: Introduction to Mass Communication.

Recommended: Introduction to Psychology.

Objectives: To acquaint the student with the unique role and function of television in the lives of children and adolescents; To examine the interaction between television and children’s cognitive, emotional and behavioral development; To address fundamental questions of broadcast policy, legislation and educating to critical television consumption, in relation to children’s exposure to television; To discuss in-depth the central theories in the field of communication, focusing on a specific target audience – children – with unique characteristics and needs.

The course deals with the role of television in the lives of children and adolescents through an inter-disciplinary examination of theories and studies from varied disciplines, mainly communication, psychology, sociology and education. It highlights the tension often created between television on one hand and other socialization agents such as the family and the educational system on the other. The course also examines central issues in the study of television and children, such as the interaction between cognitive development and the ability to understand television programs, the impact of television on behavior, world-view and learning, and possible implications for broadcast policy and education.

Topics: Television in the family context; Television and cognitive development Television and behavioral influences; Television and the structuring of reality; Television and learning; Implications for broadcast policy and education.