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Taking Charge of Your TV
A workshop available through Colorado PTA. Based on a guide
book developed by National PTA and the National Cable
Television Association, to help parents better understand why
they should take critical view of the television their
children are watching. The workshop can be customized to the
needs of your PTA.
Tips for Taking Charge of Your TV
1. TV Programs are Created to Achieve Specific Results
Just like building a house, a TV program is constructed to
send certain messages. Help children understand that TV shows
are pretend—not real. Explain that even if a TV show seems
real, the events have been altered for the viewers.
2. People Interpret What They See on TV in Different Ways
Depending on age, gender and life experiences, children will
get a wide variety of messages from a television program.
Watch TV with them and discuss important issues, such as how
conflicts are resolved or how people are stereotyped.
3. Television Violence Take Many Forms
Violence may be portrayed as realistic, funny or even
thrilling. Discuss with children what is real and not real,
funny and not funny, harmful and not harmful in cartoons and
in other programs. Slapstick humor may seem funny to some
while violent to others because viewer's rarely see the
negative consequences.
4. Television Has An Underlying Economic Purpose
Most television is supported by paid advertising. Explain to
children that advertisers want TV viewers to buy their
products. Ask children to think about why certain commercials
often appear during certain programs. For example, toy ads
during cartoons. Also, discuss how the commercial make
products look great, perhaps, even better than they might be
in real life.
The Taking Charge of Your TV: A Guide to Critical
Viewing for Parents and Children suggests ways parents can
talk to kids about what they are watching, which not only
makes television a less passive pastime but transforms it into
a learning tool.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, It Takes a Village
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