Essay Draft

Television and Youth have been a hot topic since the early 70’s. Researchers have exhausted the field with so many studies and contradicting data, leaving those on the receiving end (parents, children, and educators) confused on whether to allow or use the medium. As our society becomes enriched with different forms of technology, television is being coined as the obsolete technology. But the truth is youth find ways to watch television, even if it’s not on the actual medium itself. With Hulu, Google TV, network websites, and pirated tv show websites; youth are watching tv on their laptops, cell phones, etc. No longer is television the main medium to watch tv.

With children today developing in a world that is multifaceted it is important to examine how the use of extraneous technologies enhance or detract from the actual television shows. Children are still watching television but what are they doing after they watch the show? For example take the television show “Pretty Little Liars” that is aired on ABC Family. If you go to the actual ABC Family website you can go to the shows webpage. On the page(s) you can find online episodes (in case you missed one), challenges/quizzes (passing allows you a peak at the next episodes script), blogs from the characters, writers, and styling staff on every topic about the show, cast spotlight, itunes downloads, discussion boards, and so much more. So in reality, the show doesn’t stop when the episode is over.


So what are youth doing with this type of information? Are they actually going online and utilizing the information available? Are they calling/texting their friends and chatting about what they just viewed? Are they going to their cell phones to download the latest music they heard on the show? Television is very deeply ingrained in our culture and is a far call from becoming obsolete. If anything, television has become more interactive with the invention of new technologies. It is important to look at how the information from the show and other areas are applied to the life of the viewer; are the viewers actually doing research about the show and is this research leading to something bigger? How can parents and teachers harness this curiosity and use it for a teaching moment? Does the use of multiple technologies to enhance television viewing, improve the thought processes and investigation skills of the viewer?


Overall, it is important to look at how children are receiving information about television shows both from the episode and from other technologies and what they are doing with information, and then to observe how this type of investigative research effects the Childs overall development.