Advice to parents on children’s TV

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33934, 29 August 1975, Page 5

Advice to parents on children’s TV

Children watched an axerage of 15 to 25 hours of television a week, yet their parents paid little attention to the instruction the children received through that medium, said Ms Kathryn De Nave, script editor toi TVTs “Play School" programme, yesterday.

It was a sad fact that parents showed a great deal of interest in their children's education, hut did not know who was responsible tor the instruction they received from television, she told members of the Early Childhood Care and Development Convention.

“Who are the director-gen-eral and the controller of programmes for TV1?” she asked her audience. Several' names were submitted, but none of them was correct. “Who is the controller of: children’s programmes?” asked Ms De Nave. Several more names were submitted, but Ms De Nave said it was' a trick question. There was; no such person, as there was no special department for children’s programmes. J “You all know who the Director-General of Educa-i tion is and the Minister of I Education, but you don’t! know who is running the! television programmes your children watch for 15 to 25 hours a week,” she said.

Television for pre-school children was their only window on the world, ft provided a view of the outside world which was often nothing like anything in the child’s own experience of life.

“The pre-school child can’t go and read a book to check the information she is given on television . . . and many programmes perpetuate an unreal view.”

Ms De Nave said she believed that television could

teach children violent behaviour. “Not only will they learn it but they will use it," she said. "Violence is shown as entertainment and not as a negative force. It is shown as something adventurous and the best way of winning "Children are shown that might is right and the guv who wins, the good guv. has moral right behind him. also."

Ms De Nave said no New Zealand studies on the effect of television on child: en were available, but she quoted some findings from American studies. One study found that a group of children retained 40 per cent of, the content of violent programmes for six to eight months. Another study had found that seeing violence made children more willing to hurt others.

The American studies revealed other facts about the content of television programmes. There was high incidence of stereotyping, the hero figurt being predominately white male, middle class and unmarried Women, shi said, made up one-quarter of the programme content and were typed as romantic interests of the male heroes, mothers and married There were not manv black heroes, she said. "When did you last see a Maori in a leading role on television?” Ms De Nave -hovveil som< examples of children s programmes and gave her apipraisal of them. Her first comment was 'that programmes did not have little girls as heroes, they always had little bovs [Many cartoons, she said, also used violence and triI ckery and the children learnt ' to emulate the characters in these cartoons. “Sesame Street" was one programme she held in high regard, although unfortunately it was not geared to New Zealand. Ms De Navisaid she would like to make a New Zealand version of "Sesame Street." and that TVI would welcome an outside funded programme, which was the case with “Sesame Street" tn America.

Speaking about "Play School," Ms De Nave said they tried to present as wide a variety of people as possible. “We also believe children are capable of making their own choices, so we don’t tell them that now they are going to act like a tree. We suggest that a tree is something they could be if they wanted to.

"We don’t constantly refer to the nuclear family because 10 per cent of children have only one parent, and could feei left out. We don't show a tree being chopped down unless a new one is going to be planted in its place.”

Ms De Nave said television must be a medium to impart positive ideas and content. She added that if people did not like what they saw the best thing they could do would be to complain.