Is television harmful to children? Does it destroy imagination, provode delinquency and violence, undermine family life and have other detrimental effects on children?; The author, himself a parent, teacher and researcher investigates the complex ways in which children actively make meaning and take pleasure from television. Chapters cover the popular debates about children and television from a general and academic perspective. The characteristics of children's talk about television are explored, as children interact with other children and other family members in "family viewing" sessions.; Key concepts which inform children's talk about television are investigated i. e. genre, narrative, character, modality, and agency. Finally, conclusions are presented and issues outlined for further research.; Drawing on theories and ideas developed within media and cultural studies, English, education, psychology, sociology, linguistics and other related areas, this book will be useful to both students and teachers in the field, and to the general reader with an interest in children and the media.

"David Kamp takes readers behind the scenes to show how ... programs [such as Mister Rogers' Neighboorhood, Sesame Street, and Schoolhouse Rock] made it on air, ... [explaining] how ... like-minded individuals found their way into television, not as fame- or money-hungry would-be auteurs and stars, but as people who wanted to use TV to help children ... [The book] captures a period in children's television where enlightened progressivism prevailed, and shows how this period changed the lives of millions"--

Considers the role of social class, gender and ethnic background in determining children's understanding and use of television. The book looks at the development of children's conceptions of television genres and narrative forms.

When the television was first created, it also opened new possibilities in numerous industries. This book contains information about the television, including all the major facts and details. Using technology and truly understanding it are two different things. Go ahead and secure a copy of this book today! Enjoy the read!

A Companion to Television is a magisterial collection of 31 original essays that charter the field of television studies over the past century Explores a diverse range of topics and theories that have led to television’s current incarnation, and predict its likely future Covers technology and aesthetics, television’s relationship to the state, televisual commerce; texts, representation, genre, internationalism, and audience reception and effects Essays are by an international group of first-rate scholars For information, news, and content from Blackwell's reference publishing program please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/reference/

This book offers a magisterial overview on children and television from the accumulated global literature in this field of the past 50 years, combining both the American tradition, influenced heavily by developmental psychological studies, as well as the European tradition, characterized by more sociological and cultural studies perspectives to the field. Similarly, it draws together a methodological diversity from both the quantitative – experimental and survey research, together with the qualitative – ethnographic and interview – research of children and television. With a distinctively international approach, Children and Television highlights the global perspective in each of the chapters, balancing the need to contextualize television in children’s lives in their unique cultural spaces, as well as searching for universal understandings that hold true for children around the world.

Based on a study examining the meaning of the term "media literacy" in children, this volume concentrates on audiovisual narratives of television and film and their effects. It closely examines children's concepts of real and unreal and how they learn to make distinctions between the two. It also explores the idea that children are protected from the harmful effects of violence on television by the knowledge that what they see is not real. This volume is unique in its use of children's own words to explore their awareness of the submerged conventions of television genres, of their functions and effects, of their relationship to the real world, and of how this awareness varies with age and other factors. Based on detailed questionnaire data and conversations with 6 to 11-year-old children, carried out with the support of a fellowship at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, the book eloquently demonstrates how children use their knowledge of real life, of literature, and of art, in intelligently evaluating the relationship between television's formats, and the real world in which they live.

Concerns about the effects of television on young children are a recurrent focus of public controversy. Yet amid all the anxiety, children's voices are rarely heard. In this book, one of Britain's leading television researchers investigates children's own perspectives on what they find frightening, moving and upsetting. From "Nightmare on Elm Street" to "My Girl", from "The Colour Purple" to "The News at Ten", what children find upsetting is often difficult to predict. David Blackburn gives a detailed insight into children's responses to horror films, to "weepies" and soap operas, to news and to "reality programmes". He looks at how they learn to cope with their feelings about such material, and how their parents help or hinder them in doing so. This study offers a new approach to studying the role of television in children's lives, and should be of interest to parents and teachers, as well as policy makers and educationalists.