Developing a media education program for infant children

The objective of this study is to determine whether four-to-eight year old children need media education. The thesis is that media education may help reduce or counteract the negative influences of the media and as such is derived from the protectionistic "impact mediation model" of television literacy. Using a psycho-sociological research framework this study aims to achieve an increased understanding of the impact of a wide range of entertainment media on infant children's everyday experiences. The research blends together conventional quantitative methods of data gathering and alternative qualitative data-gathering approaches. Parental and teacher perceptions of four-to-eight year old children's relationship with the entertainment media were obtained using a questionnaire. Infant children were interviewed individually or in small groups using a structured interview schedule. In addition, infant children were observed in their normal home environment while viewing regular television programs and a choice of two prescribed videos. The main findings of the study are: that infant children are frightened by all forms of entertainment media, although the electronic audio-visual media are more likely to induce fears than other forms of media; media education does not reduce children's media fears; most children had a good understanding of television's representation of reality and fantasy; media education did not help younger children differentiate between advertisements and television programs; children in this study did not imitate the antisocial content of television and other media - according to parents, teachers and self-reports. The need for media education - based on the media effects model, was questioned