The Annenberg School for Communication: Children & Media

For Parents: What We Know

Browse Research

Below is a brief description of key findings from our research.  Be sure to click the corresponding links for further detail.  We will be continually updating this page, so please check back soon for more information!

  • Content matters!  Total viewing time and time viewing broad programming categories (e.g., children's educational shows, children's entertainment shows) do not provide enough information to determine the benefits or harms of viewing.  The structure and content of a program, as well as the age and abilities of the child, are crucial determinants of what he or she gets out of viewing. [1] ; [2]
  • Viewing quality educational television content, designed around a research-based curriculum, and at a child's appropriate age and skill-level, can have a variety of benefits for children.  In particular:
    • Exposure to literacy-focused programs, such as Postcards From Buster, and related print materials and activities boosts second graders’ vocabulary knowledge and use of conversational language skills. [1]
    • Viewing curriculum-based programs such as Between the Lions can improve early readers’ word recognition and standardized reading test scores.  In particular, this program aids children’s phonemic awareness (i.e., the sounds that make up words) and knowledge of the sound made by each letter. [1]
    • Including onscreen captions with verbally presented dialogue helps beginning readers recognize words and identify critical story elements.  Children’s positive beliefs about their own reading competence as well as their ability to learn from television further enhances positive effects [1]
    • The nature and patterns of television viewing do not have the same effects on all children.  Every child is embedded in his or her own unique context involving family, community and culture.  These and other factors should be taken into consideration when determining the influence of television exposure. [1]; [2]; [3]; [4]
  • Watching television with your child can help to bolster the positive impacts and diminish potential negative effects of viewing.  The benefits of co-viewing are particularly enhanced by the use of strategies like discussion to reinforce or explain concepts, and to relate content to a child's real life.   [1]
  • The use of words on-screen in educational programs can be a valuable tool for helping children learn to read.  Children’s visual attention to on-screen text is affected by factors such as their familiarity with print (influenced in turn by the number of books and print resources available in the home and other settings), their current developmental abilities, the complexity of the words displayed on-screen, and the amount of distracting movement in other segments of the screen. [1]
  • A strong storyline can help children learn!  Viewing traditional and “embedded” televised narratives (i.e., those which contain explicit verbal references and labels of key story elements such as setting and characters) boosts preschool children’s story knowledge (i.e., understanding of the structure and grammar associated with stories) and individual narrative skills (i.e., the ability to describe sequences and events and to tell stories).  The development of these skills help children to organize, encode and later retrieve stories presented to them, understand increasingly subtle inferences, as well as generate their own novel stories. [1]; [2]
  • Children find many educational programs entertaining and appealing.  They often identify a same-gender character as their “favorite,” and particularly enjoy programming components which use humor.  Thus, educational programming which is well-written and carefully designed around a specific curriculum can both entertain and teach young viewers. [1]; [2]; [3]; [4]
  • The production techniques used in children’s programming (e.g., zooms, sound effects, cut-aways) play a role in young viewers’ comprehension and retention of content.  The impact of these features depends on many factors including a child’s age and familiarity with television, the degree to which key production features reinforce rather than distract from simultaneous educational points in the show, and the nature of the techniques (e.g., attention-eliciting vs. overwhelming).  [1]; [2]