This text examines the uses and power of television in youth culture. Young people discuss their hopes for the future as well as the challenges they currently face, and reveal how television plays a role in their everyday life.

George Gerbner's cultivation theory provides a framework for the analysis of relationships between television viewing and attitudes and beliefs about the world. Since the 1970s, cultivation analysis has been a lens through which to examine television's contributions to conceptions of violence, sex roles, political attitudes and numerous other phenomena. Hundreds of studies during this time have (mostly) found that there are relationships between television exposure and people's worldviews, but important questions remain: just how big are these relationships, are they real, are some people more vulnerable to them than others, do they vary across different topics, and will we continue to find them in new media environments? In this collection of nineteen chapters, leading scholars review and assess the most significant developments in cultivation research in the past ten years. The book highlights cutting-edge research related to these questions and surveys important recent advances in this evolving body of work. The contributors point us toward new directions and fresh challenges for cultivation theory and research in the future.

This new edition updates and expands the scholarship of the 1st edition, examining media effects in

A worthwhile effort. --The Hindustan Times "Children and Television provides a detailed description of the patterns of representation of different groups on children′s television programs (including commercial broadcast, public broadcast, and cable) and their potential consequences for the development of people′s worldviews. . . . Children and Television is a readable and interesting introduction to research on children and television by scholars in a variety of social science disciplines as well as media professions." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media "There is much in this collection of 22 essays which will be of interest to anyone concerned with understanding children′s interaction with television." --Media Development "The issues addressed in Children and Television, are of critical importance to us at PBS. Congratulations on completing this thoughtful work. We are forwarding copies to those public television programs that on occasion review books or address these topics in their programming. . . . Works like Children and Television provide useful food for thought for those of us who care about children, whether as parents, citizens, educators or media professionals." --Jennifer Lawson, Executive Vice President, National Programming and Promotion Services, PBS "A thought provoking publication." --Educational Media International "This is an impressive and wide-ranging collection, especially given current policy discussions about enforcement of the Children′s Television Act." --Communication Booknotes Today, children grow up in a media-driven society. While children of every generation face new demands and difficulties, the media explosion represents special challenges because television now plays a role in the child′s socialization process. Set within a multicultural context, Gordon L. Berry and Joy Keiko Asamen explore how television influences our children. Children and Television identifies the social and cultural impact of television on the psychosocial development of children who are growing up in an ever-changing, multicultural world. A thought-provoking and challenging book, it analyzes major media organizations and projects policies, practices, and research directions for the future. Contributors discuss various forms of television and its effect on attention, comprehension, and behavior; television′s effects on imaginative and creative capabilities of children; and the medium′s influence on the socialization of youth. They also cover the cultural content of Saturday morning television; the portrayal of major ethnic and racial minority populations in the United States and the effects these portrayals have on children′s attitudes toward these populations; and the portrayal of women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

Former child actor Paul Petersen once said, "Fame is a dangerous drug and should be kept out of the reach of children." It is certainly true that many child actors have fallen prey to the dangers of fame and suffered for it later in life, but others have used fame to their advantage and gone on to even more successful careers in adulthood. This work is a compilation of interviews with 39 men and women who, as children, worked in the motion picture industry in Hollywood. They all handled their childhood celebrity differently. Lee Aaker, Mary Badham, Baby Peggy, Sonny Bupp, Ted Donaldson, Edith Fellows, Gary Gray, Jimmy Hunt, Eilene Janssen, Marcia Mae Jones, Sammy McKim, Roger Mobley, Gigi Perreau, Jeanne Russell, Frankie Thomas, Beverly Washburn, Johnny Whitaker, and Jane Withers are among those interviewed. They talk candidly about their experiences on and off the set, the people they worked with, and what they did after their careers ended. The pros and cons of being a child actor and the effects that it had on them later in life are discussed at great length.

101 timeless TV shows for kids to discover and for families to watch together, all in one book. Can you watch them all? Television shows are made to entertain! They can make you laugh, teach you lessons, or allow you to escape into another world for an episode or two. 101 TV Shows to See Before You Grow Up is an interactive and comprehensive list of 101 TV shows for families to enjoy together. From popular picks of today to classic shows of decades past, kids will discover a wide selection of "must see" TV shows, appropriate for all ages. Each page focuses on a single TV series with basic information about each show, including the actors, years of production, and rating. There is also a section at the bottom of each page that allows young television buffs to write in their own opinions and observations about the show. From toddler to tween and every age in between, 101 TV Shows to See Before You Grow Up is a fun handbook for TV lovers of all ages.