I t is an established fact that young children learn most of their behaviour from parents and other human beings around them. But what about when they are watching TV? Long seen as a convenient babysitter by parents with busy schedules and stressful work commitments, the TV works well as an instrument for keeping the kids occupied. Yet research shows that children can absorb as much from this experience as they do when interacting with the real world.

It doesn’t change much as we grow older, either. Even adults can find their lives and attitudes influenced by a daily dose of soap operas and news programmes.

So, should children’s programming be more suited to their educational needs than they are at present and should we all be savvier about what we take in? Children’s psychologist Dr Sansnee Chakput believes that the answer to both these questions is a resounding “yes”.

“All the data shows that TV really influences adults and especially children’s lives,” says Dr Sansnee. “Human contact is the best way of learning but, if children are going to watch TV, we have to make sure that there are good programmes for them. Children learn from what they see and they don’t see the world like we do. If no one is around to explain, they might learn that things like violence, hitting people, screaming and yelling is OK, because they see that every day on TV.”

There is much contention about the quality of programmes in Thailand and the impact they can have on viewers. The recent furore over behaviour displayed on the reality TV show Big Brother, for example, highlights the sensitivity about what we might learn and imitate from watching the box.

The debate, however, is a complex one and not always coherent. Note that the parliamentarians who agonised over Toto’s amorous advances on Big Brother don’t appear overly concerned by more dubious behaviour – like shootings, slappings and slanging matches – that show up in our homes every day courtesy of ubiquitous soap operas.

Over the years, TV has been blamed for all sorts of society’s ills, whether it be rising violence, lack of respect, increasing Westernisation or excessive materialism. While most of these accusations are difficult to prove – especially with so many other factors involved – there is some worrying evidence that TV is impacting on language development.

A recent study by the Ministry of Health found that only 64 percent of children were developing language at a normal level – down from 90 percent 15 years ago. Parenting skills and nutrition were deemed partly responsible, but it was also noted that the amount of TV children were watching, along with the content of programmes, was slowing down the development process significantly enough to warrant concern.

The government responded by introducing legislation demanding that TV companies produce at least one hour of family-orientated programming during primetime (6-10pm). Although this has been implemented to some extent, there is still a paucity of good quality edutainment for kids.

The company view

The reason behind the shortfall in children’s programming is mainly down to the way the industry works. Since all revenue comes from corporate sponsorship, TV companies feel duty-bound to produce programmes that safely pull in the ratings. Educational children’s programmes, by their nature, are not huge ratings grabbers and so do not attract sufficient revenue to support further production.

BBTV productions, the company responsible for Channel 7’s recent children’s TV hit UFO Family (see box), is keen to develop more programming with an edutainment concept but say that commercial pressures work against them.

“We don’t intend only to be a profit-making company,” says BBTV Chairman Charlotte Donavanik. “We would like to try something new, something useful for society and, in that sense, making kids programmes is quite challenging. If you really want a good and interesting programme that can survive, the best way is the government to support it.”

Indeed, financial contributions from the government could go some way to providing the kind of children’s or family programming deemed suitable in the recent legislation. It could also help to prolong the life of strong edutainment unable to attract enough sponsorship.

A similar model in the US has enabled popular children’s edutainment programmes, such as the world-renowned Sesame Street, to generate loyal audiences that would have been difficult had programme makers relied on generating sponsorship.

Ironically, because of the success of this programme, there would be no problem attracting corporate support today. The trouble here in Thailand is that the corporate world wants maximum exposure and, generally speaking, is unwilling to invest in slow-burners. That’s why carbon-copy game shows, soap operas and variety shows make up the bulk of primetime programming.

Becoming media literate

Research shows that once children grow up, they tend to respond to media in a much less literal sense. They can watch a violent programme, for example, but in most cases should be able to distinguish between what is acceptable in fiction and how that crosses over into real life. The danger lies in passive viewing, whereby children learn to watch programmes without really thinking about them and, more crucially perhaps, questioning what they are told. Some argue that this could lead to a society that slavishly follows what the government, media and corporate sponsors want them to think.

To this end, academics and educators the world over are calling for schools to educate students, from as young as 5 years old, on how to “read” the media with a critical eye – a concept known as “media literacy”.

Dr Dorothy Singer, a prominent professor of psychology from Yale University in the US, has researched and written extensively on the effect mass media has on children. She is also a strong advocate of media literacy in schools.

“It is important for children and adults to be able to think critically and to understand how the camera can distort information,” she told learning post. “A camera can focus on a part of a crowd that is rioting and omit the peaceful group in the same crowd. A society must be informed and must be able to separate fact from fiction. We need parents to help children process information accurately. We believe that media literacy should be taught in schools so that children become critical viewers of TV.”

It may be some time before Thailand, already struggling to implement education reform, begins to entertain this notion in the nation’s school. Other countries are beginning to think seriously about the possibilities although, even in developed nations, the very idea that popular media culture be studied in the classroom is looked down up on by more ardent educational traditionalists, so advocates of media literacy certainly have their work cut out.

For the time being, Dr Sansnee suggests that parents can help their children view TV productively by sitting with them while they watch. “I would also advocate for parents to make sure that their children watch quality programmes,” she says, “and that they avoid watching violent movies or violent cartoons.”

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If you would like to comment on any of the issues raised in this article, please email neils@bangkokpost.co.th

A model vision The UFO Family helping kids to learn UFO Family – a new children’s programme currently airing on Channel 7 – mixes entertainment with knowledge and lessons in ethics. Primarily aimed at children between the ages of 4 and 8, the series revolves around a family from another planet who have taken refuge in a Thai house and try to assimilate themselves with their new world. The stars are the archetypal family of loving parents, naughty schoolboy and more mature big sis (played by actors from the popular movie Fan Chan). Throughout each short programme, they all learn something about human living, making mistakes along the way but always resolving them in the end. “We feel that UFO Family is unique in that it is clearly an edutainment programme that combines education, information and science, with good behavioral models for children,” says Dr Sansnee Chakput who acts as advisor to the series. “It's also funny with popular children movie stars which draws children attention.” The hope is that more programmes like this will be made in the future, particularly with finance from sponsors and the government. The programme makers expect that parents will watch the series with their children and discuss some of the issues afterwards. It could, they suggest, also be used in the classroom as an effective educational resource. ---------------------- UFO Family can be seen at 4:30 pm every Tuesday on Channel 7.

Esso Challenge 2005 winners announced

From left: Prize winners Rattana O.adisai, Pimpatra Ninnatnonth and Tipaluck Krityakierne. At the back, from Esso (Thailand) are David Levy, president and managing director, and Veerasak Kositpaisal, director and public affairs manager.

Scholarships awarded to three outstanding students

Story and photos by ORATIP NIMKANNON

The four-week-long job-training programme Esso Challenge 2005 drew to a close on May 17 with the announcement of a 100,000-baht scholarship to the first-prize-winner Pimpatra Ninnatnonth from Mahidol University.

The training programme, held from April 18 to May 13, comprised both in-house lectures and field trips involving topics such as marketing, leadership, teamwork, social responsibility, and life management. In addition, students spent two days working in groups as pump attendants in order to apply the knowledge they had learned in class to real working situation.

“I’ve learned how to be a leader and how to be responsible for myself because I had to go to work on time. And I’ve also learned to be flexible because sometimes we got off work late and we also had to work in teams whose members came from many different backgrounds,” Pimpatra said.

While participating in the programme, students were evaluated according to their individual performance, on skills such as creativity, teamwork, leadership, group presentations, and the final individual presentation.

“The students’ scores were extremely close,” said Veerasak Kositpaisal, director and public affairs manager of Esso (Thailand). “We had to break them down to decimal points. Pimpatra’s performance had been most consistent throughout the four-week period, and her final presentation was both interesting in style and complete in content.”

A second prize of 60,000 baht went to Rattana O.adisai of Thammasat University, while Tipaluck Krityakierne bagged the third prize of 40,000 baht.

Esso Challenge 2005 was open to all third-year university students from all academic backgrounds, but only 24 shortlisted candidates participated in the programme