"The Fact That Children Are Pictured So Rarely in Situations Where They Can

PHOTO BY WALT BLAIR

"The fact that children are pictured so rarely in situations where they can demonstrate problem-solving ability in a realistic (non-magical) way deprives children of opportunities for identifying with and internalizing the image of a competent child" - Gwen Hamlin, Yona Nelson-Shulman, and Sheree West Children's Television: An Environmental Learning Resource ?

by GWEN HAMLIN, YONA NELSON-SHULMAN, and SHEREE WEST, all of the Environmental Psychlogy Program, City Uni- versity of New York.

ABSTRACT. This study was designed to explore the environmental information currently available on those television programs most frequently watched.by children 2 to 11. The aspects investigated were: range and type of environments shown, relative proportions of time spent on interior and exterior scenes, and verbal expressions and actions related to the environment. Exterior environments were classified by topography, density of habitation, and land use. Saturday morning and prime-time programs were compared on these dimensions. All of the data were analyzed for environmental themes. Implications of the results and some direc- tions for future research are discussed.

CHILDRENLEARN about their world in a have the opportunity to see a range of lifestyles variety of ways. Learning happens in count- and their environmental supports. All of these less environments: in the explicitly educational may contribute to an explanding internal classroom situation, through direct personal ac- representation of the child's world. tion and experience in the world, and also TV has been criticized as a passive medium, a through indirect, mediated experience. Televi- one-way communication process which deprives sion is one source of such indirect experience. children of the time and incentive to explore Although its explicit function is most commonly their own environment selectively and to learn entertainment rather than education, its poten- by asking questions and receiving feedback tial for affecting viewers attitudinally, (Bettelheim 1960). On the other hand, the cognitively, and/or. behaviorally has been es- characters and stories viewed on TV may spark tablished by recent extensive research on TV as an active and creative fantasy play in children a source of social learning (Leibert, Neale, and at other times and places. Furthermore, TV may Davidion 1978). Our question in this research expose children to a wider range of action was: what is the potential for environmental possibilities, general information, and en- learning through television? vironmental learning than they would ever have Attitudes, expectations and information direct personal access to, thus expanding their regarding human relationships with the land, cognitive options and potential modes of with nature, and with the built environment are behavior. expressed constantly on television. Children can The classic communication model provided see different landscapes, and can learn (whether the conceptual framework for our investigation accurately or not) about various geographical of the potential contribution of television to regions of the world, as well as about natural children's environmental learning. The model and earth-science processes. Various types of sets up three distinct areas to be investigated: 1) built environments and the activities ap- the communicators and their intentions; 2) the propriate to them are shown. Children thus message (i.e., program content); 3) the audience and its reception and processing of the message. handled differently when an adult audience is Clearly, any television program reflects the anticipated? Programs that are shown on Satur- multiple input of writer, director, producer, day morning are designed specifically for network and sponsor, and their individual and children, whereas primetime programs (broad- collective values and vested interests as well as cast during the heavy-viewing hours from 8 to generalized cultural assumptions of ap- 11 p.m.) are aimed at adults as well. propriateness, aesthetics, and morality. This study touched on only part of the greater system at work It was an initial attempt to deal with METHOD the second area of the available message, by isolating and analyzing the environments We used the Nielsen ratings for the first two presented through this medium. weeks in January 1975 to determine which of Our aim was to find out what environmental the Saturday morning and evening primetime information is available to children on popular programs were seen by the largest numbers of television. What programs do most children children. Of prime-time programs, only hour- watch; what are they about; what kinds of en- long series were selected (table 1). Nielson es- vironments are represented; and in what for- timates that 9 million children from 2 to 11 mat? What uses are made of environments and watch these programs regularly. We recorded a what explicit references are made to en- total of 20 viewing hours (10 from Saturday vironments that express underlying values and morning and 10 from prime time). We watched attitudes? What are the major themes dealing two episodes from each series and videotaped with environmental issues? Finally, what are them for later analysis. the roles that children play in relation to their Each scene was described by reducing its physical setting; how do they deal with en- visual narrative to a capsule scenario (scene vironmental problems; and what environmental changes were determined primarily by change skills do they demonstrate that might be of in- of setting). With each change of setting, plot structional value to their viewers? developments were noted. Setting was described We supposed that conventional social in terms of location (e.g., California), assllmptions about children and environments topography (e.g., flat desert), land use/building might be revealed by comparing Saturday- type Ze.g., commercial, low-rise) and degree of morning with prime-time programming. Is habitation (urban, suburban, rural, un- children's performance in various environments inhabited). Frequently, settings were categoriz-

Table 1.-Programs viewed Program Format Principal setting Main characters (all animated animals are anthropomorphized SATURDAY A.M. Devlin Animated Nomadic (circus) girl, teen boy, young man (siblings) Hong Kong Phooey Animated Urban dogs a, cat a, adults Jeannie Animated Suburban teens, female genie, immature genie Land of the Lost Live action Artificial set: prehistoric girl, boy, father un~le,caves Pink Panther Animated 1ar~ous and abstract Panther, ant, aardvaark, anony- mous humans Run, Joe, Run Live action Nomadic trained dog, male trainer Shazam Live action Nomadic teen young mana ,older man Sigmund and the Sea Monsters Live Action Artificial set: suburban 2 boys, older 'Aunt', sea monsters beach and house Superfriends Animated Metrowlitan, air, and 2 children, assortment of super- . underwater heroes a The New Adventures of Gilligan Animated Tropical island young man, adults EVENING (all are live action) Emergency Adventure Metropolitan Male adults ( ublic servants) Little House on the Prairie Family drama 19th century, pr4rie nuclear fami& Six Million Dollar Man Adventure Various internat~onal male adult a The Rookies Adventure Metropolitan. male adults (public servants) The Waltons Family drama 1930's, Vir~nmmountains extended family with grandparents a Character with supernatural powers ed on the basis of context, since the landscape The other two series were both rural, set in the was only glimpsed or was not in clear focus. past, and featured families with children. Distinctions between suburban-commerical and Few programs showed children under 12. On urban categories were particularly difficult to Saturday morning, when programs are aimed make, as they are, in fact, typically blurred in specifically at children of that age, only 4 of the American cityscapes. Other salient visual 10 regularly showed children as protagonists. qualities (e.g., climatic conditions) were record- Adolescents were shown in four others. ed and the setting was designated, whenever Altogether, of the 29 episodes viewed, only 11 possible, as exterior or interior. featured a child as a main character (7 of 19 on All verbal references to the environment (fac- Saturday; 4 of 10 in prime time). Of the two tual statements, emotional responses, puns, evening series featuring families, children were etc.) were transcribed, as were any salient ac- central to the plot in two of the four episodes. tions upon the environment, eg., carving in- Young people were shown in urban situations itials into a tree. Each interior and exterior shot only twice, both briefly on Saturday morning. was timed to determine its respective contribution to the total time. Finally, themes and global messages emerging from a content analysis of RESULTS verbal expressions and environmentally related actions or plot developments were noted and Of Saturday morning program time, 59.2 per- analyzed. cent was devoted to exterior scenes, while 40.2 percent of the time the action took place inside. The remaining 0.6 percent used abstract set- DESCRIPTION OF tings which fit into neither category. The PROGRAMS VIEWED percentages were reversed for prime time: 40.5 percent of the total were exterior scenes, while Of the top 10 Saturday morning programs we 59.5 percent were interior scenes (table 2). Much viewed, 6 were animated and 4 were live-action of the exterior time in prime time was devoted productions. Three programs maintained stable to quick establishing shots (5 to 10 seconds for a settings, while the rest offered a wider variety long shot or pan shots used to provide a frame of of settings within and between episodes. Three reference), or to what we came to call "in- programs featured characters whose nomadic transit" sequences. These were typically chase lifestyles brought them to a new local each scenes, where the environment added to the week. Only two programs were primarily urban. sense of risk and suspense, or transitional Four programs featured animals as main scenes, which eased the flow from one set loca- characters and four had main characters with tion to another. some kind of super power. Table 3 summarizes the exterior en- All of the five prime-time programs viewed vironments by general type of landscape on a were live-action dramas, utilizing both locations rough continuum of density of habitation and and realistic sets. Three were action-adventure type of land use. In the overall sample, the series, two of which were based in specific predominant landscapes (30.5 percent of total metropolitan areas. The third varied its location exterior time) were rural and sparsely in- weekly, often suggesting international settings. habited, as exemplified by the dry scrub and The protagonists of these series were adult men. grassy hills typical of southern California. The

Table 2.-Time spent in interior and exterior settingo by Saturday and evening shows

Time period Interior Exterior Other Total Min. I Min. 5% Min. % Min. % Saturday 161.19 40.2 237.54 59.2 2.48 0.6 401.21 100.0 Evening 283.03 59.5 192.28 40.5 - - 475.30 100.0 Total 444.22 - 429.82 - 2.48 - 876.51 - Table 3.-Exterior time devoted to landscape types In Saturday and evening how6

Saturday Evening Total exterior Landscape type %of Sat. %of total % of eve. % of total %oftotal Minutes extenor exterior Minutes exterior exterior Minutes exterior time time time time time

------. Suburban commercial 6.74 2.8 1.6 14.87 7.7 Suburban residential 26.75 11.3 6.2 9.30 4.8 Small town/campua 1.51 0.6 0.4 38.00 19.8 8.8 - Rural/sparsely inhabited 45.31 19.1 10.5 85.73 44.6 Wildhninhabited 71.21 30.0 16.6 10.40 5.4 I Subtotal 161.99 68.2 37.7 179.50 93.3 41.7 341.49 79.5 1 Public recreational 27.25 11.5 6.3 9.38 4.9 2.2 36.63 8.5 Other surfaces 34.12 14.4 7.9 .88 0.5 0.2 35.00 8.1 (air, water, etc. Not accounted 1or 14.18 5.9 33 2.52 1.3 0.6 16.70 3.9 (technical difficulties, etc.) Total 237.54 100.0 55.2 192.28 100.0 44.7 4B.82 100.0

activities most frequently shown in these dry On Saturday morning, the predominant rocky hills were high action chase sequences. category was wild, uninhabited landscape (30.0 Rural scenes of ponds, woods, or dirt paths, on percent of Saturday exterior time). The next the other hand, were usually settings for social most frequent was rural, sparsely inhabited interaction and intimate encounters between (19.1 percent), followed by s2burban residential family and friends. Wild, uninhabited (11.3 percent). Urban exteriors accounted for landscapes were second in frequency (19.9 only 4.4 percent of Saturday time, with small percent). Urban settings accounted for only 7.4 town/campus appearing least often (0.6 percent of the total exterior time for all percent). programs, and suburban commercial strips The predominant landscapes in prime time, were seen least (5.0 percent). on the other hand, were rural, sparsely in- The Saturday morning programs showed a habited (44.6 percent of evening exterior time), much greater variety of landscape types, in- and small town/campus (19.8 percent), con- cluding more exotic and wild, uninhabited tributed primarily by two programs-The regions; e.g., deserts, mountains, tropical Waltons and Little House ola the Prajrie-which islands, jungles, etc. Often these settings served feature the same rural locales each week. Urban as remote or mythical supports for events more landscapes were third in amount of evening ex- freely fantasized than those usual in evening terior time at 11.0 percent. Wild, uninhabited programs. Most prime-time exterior scenes (93.3 landscapes (5.4 percent of evening exterior time) percent) fell into one of the six density/land use and suburban residential exteriors (4.8 percent) categories shown in table 3, as did a smaller appeared least frequently. majority (68.2 percent) of the Saturday morning Four of the most frequent environrnent- landscapes. Not all scenes could be categorized centered themes are discussed below with brief along those dimensions, however: 8.5 percent of illustrative references from the specific the total exterior time showed public recreation programs in which they appear. settings, e.g., racetracks, fairgrounds, zoos, and Being marooned, lost and/or isolated- stadiums. Of this category, 74.4 percent was generally as the result of some natural dis- contributed by the Saturday morning programs. aster-provides the raison d'etre and continuous Other surfaces, e.g., air, water, underwater, etc. plot line for the two most popular (according to accounted for 8.1 percent of the total exterior a recent Nielsen statistic) Saturday morning time, with 97.5 percent of that category at- programs. In The New Adventures of Gilligan, a tributable to Saturday morning programs. shipwreck has left an odd assortment of people stranded on an island, which provides a physical a refuge where two boys hide their sea-monster context for weekly adventures and mishaps. In friend, but it is also a private place where the Land of the Lost, a father, son, and daughter boys can meet and plan in secrecy without fear find their camping trip disrupted when an of intrusion from the adult world (S&mund and earthquake catapults them into a prehistoric the Sea Monsters). Interior settings are not the time dimension. One episode of Devbn dealt only places where people seek and find privacy: with the experience of being trapped in a narrow "Let's go outside where we can be private," says mountain pass by an avalanche that followed an a character in Little House on the Prairie. Close- unexpected blizzard. In both Devlin and Land of ly related to private places are settings for con- the Lost, the environment is depicted as hostile fidential talks, which range from conventional and threatening, requiring the protagonists to interiors, e.g. bedrooms, to the front steps of muster their resources in dealing with the houses and schools, and very often to natural challenge of the situation. The characters in settings, e.g. gardens, ponds, waterfalls, dirt Gilligan also cope quite successfully with the roads, and trees. situational demands of their island existence, Another major theme that overlaps con- but the environment is seen as more supportive, siderably with the concept of environment as adding credence to, the myth of easy and boun- refuge is the theme of running away. This tiful living on tropical islands. category includes not only the characters who A number of environments evoked responses are fleeing from the police in various episodes of of aesthetic appreciation. In Shazam, Mentor The Rookicies, but also situations where children and Billy admire the tranquility of their moun- or animals run from a place of security and close tain surroundings: ". . .especially up here where familial ties to strange and unfamiliar places it's so peaceful and quiet." Sandy, in Devlin, is that demand rather complex adaptive awe-struck at the same mountain snowfall strategies. Joe is the fugitive dog in the series which unnerved her older brother: "It's Run, Joe, Run who is erroneously thought to be beautiful-look, it's snow. . .Like a kid's fairy dangerous and must constantly flee his pur- tale!" Francie, in The Roohies, reminesces about suers in alien terrain. In an episode of The "just walking through the park-it was Waltons, When Jim-Bob, the youngest boy in beautiful, really beautiful." Most notable of all the family, feels ignored and misunderstood, he is 8-yearsld Laura's soliloquy while fishing runs away from his rural home to the next town, with her beloved Johnny: 'What a pretty song. where he attempts to buy a train ticket for Squirrels playing and fish jumping-this is such "Japan or Washington". One segment of Jeannie a cheerful place. At times like this, I feel all features Babu, a genie, who thinking himself warm and sparkling inside" (Little House on the jinxed, runs away from his suburban home to a Prairie). more rural setting where he encounters some Environments were also seen as refuges unfriendly strangers. In all instances the where people go to elude their pursuers. runaways are sought by concerned family and Although the rural, sparsely inhabited friends and entreated to return home. Going landscape often provides this escape, e.g. fleeing home is, of course, the thematic counterpart to to the hills to escape police (The Rookies), the running away or getting lost - and the wqm urban environment also provides multiple op- and supportive qualities of home are strong un- portunities for flight and retreat. Microen- derlying themes in at least three series: the title vironments are often used for this purpose, e.g. of Little House on the Prairie physically hiding in alley trashcans (The Waltons) and in describes the locus of the Ingals' homestead; the doorways of dimly-lit urban streets (Six Walton's Mt., Va. is where The Waltons live and Million Dollar Man) as well as losing oneself in work (most significant action takes place in and downtown traffic to shake off the police (The around the house in these two cases); and the Rookies). Some imaginative hiding places in- sole objective of the family stranded in Land of cluded a tennis court, a filing cabinet, an un- the Lost is to return home. In each of these derwater algae forest, the inside of a dam, and a programs, the physical environment clearly clubhouse. sh-apes the lifestyle pictured. The clubhouse represents a subcategory of l%ightening and dangerous places often this major thematic element, since it is not only figure into the plots to create an atmosphere of tension, adventure, and excitement and provide magical) way deprives children of opportunities a context for displays of bravery and risk- for identifying with and internalizing the image taking, hence the final theme focuses on of a competent child. Super power and demonstrations of environmental competence. technological intervention as the usual means of In only three episodes are children actively deal- problem-solving on these TV programs may ing with their fears and coping realistically with reinforce the child's notion of finding magical situational crises. Holly, the young girl in Land rather than skill- or initiative-derived solutions of the Lost, and Chad, a blind boy in one episode to ecological problems. of Shazam, manage to rise above their handi- Such conventions about a child's relationship caps and the overprotection of well-meaning to the environment and the expectations of his adults by rescuing others whose lives are en- performance within that environment emerge dangered. Most of problems faced by television fairly consistently in both Saturday and prime- characters, however, are dealt with by adults - time programs. The differences between the two many of whom are also equipped with super are largely in the kinds of environments shown powers. In fact, out of 29 episodes, 10 featured and the kinds of adion that take place. These characters with superhuman powers - none of differences probably reflect the anticipated them children. Implications of these findings for differences in viewing audiences. the development of environmental competence Exterior environments provide the potential in children will be discussed in the next section. for a great variety and quantity of action. It is known that action is a prime ingredient in holding children's attention to the screen DISCUSSION AND (Liebert, Neale, and Davidson 1973). On Satur- FUTURE RESEARCH day morning, mythical or remote exterior environments were often settings for that action These results reflect general social attitudes and adventure. In prime-time shows, most of about children and current programming the fast-paced action sequences again take place theories as well as the different potentials for outside, but verbal dramatic developments, environmental learning inherent in the formats perhaps of more interest to adults, are usually* of evening and Saturday morning programs. set indoors. One convention that appeared consistently is Since children do watch both Saturday mor- the placement of children in natural settings. ning and evening programs, the differences in Perhaps our cultural mythology perpetuates the settings may communicate conflicting images of notion of a link between the characteristics the wider world beyond home. On Saturday sterotypically assigned to children-simplicity, morning, events that are exciting, adventurous, openness and uninhibited behavior-and the un- or challenging usually happen in exotic foreign domesticated outdoors. Our society has conven- places, in wild uninhabited places, or at least in tionally thought that the "natura1"environment places outside the home. While the situations is the most suitable arena for a child's play and that develop may or may not be realistic, they exploration and that the child should therefore present an intriguing view of a world larger be happiest in such a context. The city is seen as than that experienced by mast children, or even inimical to children in the harshness of its build most adults. environment. Restrictions are imposed by The evening programs we viewed split into an adults because of perceived physical and social interesting dichotomy. On the one hand, there dangers. In the television programs we was a melange of violent, criminal and/or in- monitored, we saw no children demonstrating stitutional processes generated in an urbanized skills or coping with problems in urban settings, world in which men were the main participants. although other characters that children may or On the other hand, programs featuring family may not identify with (animals and older life are set in the past and depict 'home' as a adolescents) were occasionally seen acting in ur- secure rural haven. Do children infer from this ban scenes. that the city is a frightening, dangerous place The fact that children are pictured so rarely in unsuitable for children and a secure home is situations where they can demonstrate only a remnant of our rural past? problem-solving ability in a realistic (non- Furthermore, what notions of lifestyle are children absorbing? Several Saturday morning less connected and the scales of environments shows support the American romance of change much more abruptly in adjacent scenes nomadic or highly mobile lifestyles inviting'ex- of TV programs. The choice of perspective is also ploration of unknown environments. Some not available to the viewer of a television scene evening programs, on the other hand, reinforce as it is to the car passenger. Learning to in- the value of a stable, rooted home environment. tegrate different scales and perspectives of The presentation of lifestyles in the context of environment-landscape into a coherent image is certain environments, e.g., conventional subur- a cognitive task which children achieve with ban settings or nostalgic rural settings, may varying levels of competence at different stages contribute to idealized images and expectations of development (Hart and Moore 1973). Future of how one "should" live and of options other research should investigate the child's ability to people enjoy. It is possible that the comparison integrate individual scene pieces into a unified of his or her own lifestyle with those shown on image of a landscape based on the context of the television may contribute not only to the child's program and to identify a type of landscape, as learning about the world but also, by reflection, well as its region or place in the world. to an emerging self-definition, This study has approached only one phase of We should note that although Saturday morn- the communications model, the message con- ing shows often depicted more unusual en- tent. The other two facets, the choices and inten- vironments, the "created" (drawn or modeled) tions of the producers of the message and the settings were (with a few exceptions) highly manner in which the information is assimilated stereotypic, abstracted representations of the and incorporated by child viewers, must also be suggested environments. If these are informing investigated to elucidate the process of a child's image of parts of the world, it is on a children's environmental learning through highly generalized level. The "live" locations of television. This conceptual and methodological evening programs, on the other hand, provide approach is equally applicable to other popular incidental information about more ordinary en- media, e.g. movies, comic books, advertising, vironments in much greater detail. For many music, etc. young children, even these "ordinary" en- It is our hope that this presentation will spark vironments are different from anything they an interest in media-based environmental have experienced, and thus may be a source of learning. Decisions about environments are environmental learning. made by and for people who environmental at- Although the settings of the evening titudes and values have been shaped not only programs were more detailed and realistic than through formal education and direct experience most Saturday morning settings, landscapes but also through indirect and informal were often viewed in glimpses. The scenes were resources. short, and the screen was filled almost entirely Acknowledgments by close-ups of people, car interiors, etc. Landscapes were often more suggested than We thank Ronald R. Erickson of the City shown, seen in fragments out of car windows, or University of New York for his invaluable blurred by panning or a shallow depth of field. technical and conceptual assistance on this pro- One reason that so much of the landscape was ject. seen in glimpses and fragments was the great LITERATURE CITED amount of time spent in vehicles and on the Appleyard, Donald, Kevin Lynch, and John R. Myer. streets. We are reminded of recent discussions 1964. The view Prom the road. M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, of landscapes seen from moving vehicles and the Mass. Bettelheim, Bruno. educational and orienting functions that could 1960. The informed heart. Autonomy in a mass age. be served in real urban landscapes by the Free Press, Glencoe, Ill. Carr, Ste hen, and Kevin Lynch. different perspectives available in a trip 1968. here learning happsas. Daedalus 97:1217-1291 through the city (Appbard, Lgnch, and Myw Hart, Roger, and Gary Moore. 1964; Carr and Lgnch 1968). 1973. The development of spatial cognition: a review. In R. Downs and D. Stea (eds.), Image and Environment. In a sense children are carried as passively Aldine Publishing Co.,Chicago. through television landscapes as they are in Lelbert, Robert M., John M. Neale, and Emily S. Davidson. 1973. The early window: effects of TV on children vehicles, but the images on television are even and youth Pergamon Press, Inc., New York.