The Benefits of Television and Entertainment Media for Children

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Not only do television and entertainment media not hinder children’s learning with regards to developing vocabulary, but studies such as those by Donna Mumme and Anne Fernald (2003) indicate that children can learn how to interact with their environment through media. Mumme and Fernald’s paper, “The Infant as Onlooker: Learning from Emotional Reactions Observed in a Television Scenario,” explains that children 12 months old can use societal cues that they see on a television to influence how they interact with and regard objects. In this study, 10 and 12-month-olds watched an actress on television interact with a toy prior to interacting with the toy themselves. Children observed the actress reacting to the objects neutrally in the control test and with positive or negative emotions in the experimental tests. Mumme and Fernald found that the 12-month-olds changed how they interacted with and regarded new objects based on how they watched the actress interact with the objects on television. Although there was not much of a difference in how the children interacted with toys after watching the neutral and positive affect videos, the negative affect condition resulted in a significant increase in children’s negative emotion and their tendency to avoid the object. This study suggests that children can learn important lessons about how to interact with the world around them through television. Therefore, the use of entertainment media could actually greatly benefit children and should by no means be “avoided.” Additionally, this study included children right in the middle of the age range (2 years old and under) that the American Academy of Pediatrics targets with their policy suggestion, which makes it directly applicable evidence tha...

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...ir children to watch. Parents should be cautious to avoid violent media or media that portrays negative values that they would not want their children to replicate. This is ultimately up to the parents’ discretion. Television and entertainment media should not be avoided, but can instead be used as a helpful teaching tool if used correctly.

Works Cited

Akhtar, N. The robustness of learning through overhearing. Developmental Science, 199-209.
DeLoache, J., Chiong, C., & O'Doherty, K. Do Babies Learn From Baby Media?.Psychological
Science, 1570-1574.
Fernald, A., & Mumme, D. The Infant As Onlooker: Learning From Emotional Reactions
Observed In A Television Scenario. Child Development, 221-237.
Roseberry, S., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. Skype Me! Socially Contingent Interactions
Help Toddlers Learn Language. Child Development, 1-15.

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