Television's Role in the Socialization of African American Children and Adolescents

Abstract

potential of television to affect the social, cognitive, and affective learning of children has been studied ad infinitum.1 It has been noted that children and adolescents spend more time watching television than they do engaging in formal education (Guthrie, 1983; Hatt, 1982). As a result, the question frequently arises from parents and educators about the socializing effects of television on children. question is simple enough; what is not so simple is the answer. complexity involved in answering this question arises from the vast number of variables that come into play in attempts to describe television's effects (see Figure 1). For example, what prior experiences and beliefs do children bring to the viewing of an episode of The Cosby Show? How much attention do children actually pay to an episode of Family Matters? How frequent do children watch educational shows such as Sesame Street? extent to which television socializes children depends on answers to these and similar questions. Despite the difficulties involved in elucidating television's socializing influence, most scholars agree that television is instrumental in the socialization of children. This medium has been described as a source of vicarious socialization that competes with other socializing agents to provide role models and information that affect children's attitudes, beliefs, and behavior (Comstock et al., 1978). Berry and Mitchell-Kernan (1982) maintain that it is television's ability to transmit the values of the culture that makes it-together with the family, church, peers, school,