Resources
research

7) Why is it so important for adults to watch television with children?
Quite a bit of research has established that watching a program with adults helps diffuse negative effects and boost positive effects, especially for educational children's programs found on Iowa Public Television.

Co-viewing, as it is called, is becoming harder as more and more families have 2 or more television sets in the home. Statistical Research, Inc. (1996) indicate that 48 percent of households with children under the age of 18 own three or more television sets. The Children's Lifestyles Study (1995) and the Home Technology Study (1995) both found that over a third of children under 12 have television sets in their bedrooms.

Reiser (see below) found that children who were asked questions or were permitted to engage in dialogue with the adults scored higher on the post-test than did children who just watched the shows with an adult. Salomon found that the positive effects of co-viewing were stronger among families of lower socio-economic status and that co-viewing added to the children's enjoyment of the program.

Here are some references from the co-viewing literature:

• Austin, E. W., Roberts, D.F. & Nass (1990). Influences of family communication on children's television interpretation processes Communication Research 17(4), 545-565.
  
• Collins, W.A., Sobol, B.L., and Westby S. (1981) Effects of adult commentary on children's comprehension and inferences about televised aggressive portrayal. Child Development , 52, 1, 158-163.
  
• Haeffner, M.J., & Wartella, E. A. (1987) Effects of sibling coviewing on children's interpretations of television programs, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media , 31, 2, 153-168.
  
• Reiser, R. A., Williamson, N. & Suzuki, K. (1988) Using "Sesame Street" to facilitate children's recognition of letters and numbers. Educational Communication and Technology Journal , 36(1), 15-21.
  
• Salomon, G. (1977) Effects of encouraging Israeli mohters to co-observe "Sesame Street" with their five-year-olds. Child Development , 48, 1146-1158.
  
• St. Peters, M., Fitch, M., Huston, A.C., Wright, J. C. & Eakins, D. J. (1991). Television and families: Whatdo young children watch with their parents? 1409-1423.
  
• Wright, J.C., St. Peters, M., & Huston, A. C. (1990) Family television use and its relation to children's cognitive skills and social behavior. In J. Bryant (Ed.), Television and the American Family (227-252), Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.