A Short Essay on Childrenâs Television | HCTV
Written for History of Childrenâs Television @ NYU Tisch School of the Arts | Mid-term writing assignment
  âThe chief part television plays in the lives of children depends at least as much on what the child brings to television as on what television brings to the childâ
~ Lyle + Parker Schramm
A childâs brain is often referred to as being âsponge likeâ, developmental and psychological studies, such as those discussed in Norma Doidgeâs The Brain that Changes Itself, have helped to prove that statement as true. Because children are so easily influenced by what they see and hear, there is great responsibility on creators of childrenâs television, however, the child must be prepared and willing to adapt and apply the lessons that age appropriate television provide to them.
For my observation project, I most wanted to observe my favorite cousin Aaralyn who is three years old. However, because she was visiting an aunt at the time I planned my video call to observe her, she was watching Liv & Maddie with a six and eight year old. Although the six and eight year old thoroughly enjoyed the show from its start, Aaralyn clearly could not connect to it nor focus on its plot and characters. She just hadnât reached the point in development with 1) live action shows were of any interest to her 2) she could understand what the characters were discussing in the show and 3) she could watch such a âlong formâ program that lacked continuous song breaks.
Classes I have taken in child psychology, our readings and insight shared from our guests all conclude that up to about adolescence, a child develops very rapidly becoming cognitively, socially and emotionally more capable, aware and âelasticâ at a month to month rate. As the child gets older the difference between ages is less pronounced, which is what makes a six month old vastly different from a seven month old and a five year old not as developed, but quite similar to a six year old. As we have much discussed in class, this creates a limited window of time for a series developed with young children in mind to âworkâ and in order to ensure the success of these critical programs, a significant amount of research is needed. To further unpack this quote Iâd like to reference a few viewing experiences from class, the â2-4â programs Daniel Tigerâs Neighborhood / Blues Clues, in contrast to the 8-12 Liv & Maddie.
Designed for preschoolers, Blueâs Clues and Daniel Tiger make use of the âpreschool pauseâ, allowing time for viewers to respond to questions posed by characters on screen and engage with content. The episodes are also directed at camera as if having a one on one conversation with their toddler to preschooler audience. For these young audiences these structural and style choices are appropriate, but older audiences find the choices âbabyishâ or laughable because there is a developmental disconnect. The viewers of these shows are between the psychosocial stages of Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt and Initiative vs Guilt; within these stages children need both support to feel a sense of safety and independence (not a serious amount of it, but enough to watch a TV show on their own for example) to create healthy attachments. The Shame & Doubt phase is all about mastering the psychical environment and forming self-esteem. These shows take places in simple, consistent home environments similar to their own that (after repeat viewing) they could âmasterâ and the positive; because both Steve and Daniel rely on their audiences for answers or guidance, value is placed on the child and they develop a sense of self esteem. For older viewers in the Initiative vs Guilt phase of development, they prefer to initiate rather than imitate and develop their conscience. While theses shows often encourage the viewers to do as theyâre doing (example: âLetâs make believe weâre flying an airplaneâ) the viewer can be inspired to initiate their own activities, or to initiate the activities from the show while the show is not on (âimaginative playâ, in a sense). In addition these shows and their socioemotional focuses help in developing moral consciousness for viewers.
In addition to psychologically fulfilling the needs of its audience, Blueâs and Daniel Tigerâs visually engage 2-4 year olds who take a liking to bold colors and large patterns. Returning to the concept of âmasteringâ these shows have simple plots that a viewer can learn to recognize and then predict the sequence of. The slower pace of the shows also ensure that the television is delivering something to the child that fits its audienceâs processing speed and attention span. However, after having met the discussed psychosocial milestones by school age, viewers beyond the age of â do not âbringâ any âneedâ to shows like Daniel Tiger and Blueâs, therefor the shows cannot well âplayâ into the lives of those children.
Returning to the earlier example of my observation project, what the girls I observed brought to the television that day was a desire for mild entertainment and background noise. Although, like most childrenâs shows, Liv & Maddie usually provides a moral lesson within its episode, because the girls were not receptive to learning a lesson at the moment of their viewing, nothing could be gained from viewership beyond âentertainmentâ. However, on other days when the girls watch and are seeking something such as confirmation they have good friends, that their families love them or that school problems can be overcome (common themes in the show), they will feel a deeper relation to the content and will be able to draw the lesson and words of comfort provided to them by the showâs creative staff. Because as much as all the research, demographic targeting and socioemotional or otherwise lessons offered in television programming, like school-work, a child will only get out of television what they put into it. Â