Parental regulation of children's T.V. viewing behaviour

Abstract

Parents play a major role in children acquiring consumer knowledge and skills through parent - child communication, training and modelling (Ward, Wackman and Wartella 1977). Parents can teach children about T.V advertising by actively participating in children's television viewing (Walsh, Laczniak and Carlson, 1998) and establishing rules to guide children's T.V viewing and processing of television communication (Armstrong and Brucks, 1988). This study is based on the interviews conducted with parent's and focuses on their relationship to children's television viewing, on circumstances where the family watches T.V together, and on discussion about television programmes with children. It covered large area of thought from parent's T.V viewing habits to control exercised, intent explained to child and effect of T.V viewing on children. The sample has been drawn from 10 primary schools in North and South districts of Goa. The questionnaire was filled by one of the parent of each of the 200 children studied . The results of the study revealed that parents in Goa resort to co-viewing and controlling of T.V programmes of children in general. They control by limiting the time of T.V watching and controlling the content of T.V watched by children and making the intent clear to their children. Since parents themselves watch television and advertisements they are able to monitor children's T.V viewing behaviour.