Television viewing patterns of children in a rural community

Abstract

The general objective of the study is to find out if there is a relationship between TV viewing patterns of children in a rural community and the socio-demographic characteristics such as age, sex, and the parents’ educational attainment. Specifically, it aims to (1) describe the socio-demographic profile of the respondents; (2) determine if there is a relationship between children’s age and their TV viewing pattern; (3) determine if there is a relationship between children’s sex and their TV viewing pattern; (4) determine if there is a relationship between parents’ educational attainment and TV viewing pattern. The data analyzed in this study are obtained through conducting guided interviews with 80 children. The areas included by the researchers in the study are the hours and days of TV viewing of children, their program preferences, their sleeping time, and the frequency of scolding of the parents. It was found that majority of the respondents are 10-12 years olds, males, and have parents who have both high educational attainments. Results reveal that majority of respondents spend between one to five hours watching television everyday. Their usual sleeping time is before or at nine in the evening. Nonetheless, many are scolded for watching television on weekdays but never on weekends. The results of the study concluded that there is a significant relationship between sex and hours of television viewing while age and parent’s educational attainment have no significant relationship in the hours of television viewing. There is no apparent difference between the number of hours of television viewing and the age and parent’s educational attainment. The only difference is that majority of male children watch television for one to five hours a day, while most female children watch more than five hours of TV viewing. Thus, there is a significant relationship between sex and hours of television viewing. On the other hand, there is no significant relationship between the days of TV viewing and the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. The researchers recommended that a similar study could be conducted in an urban area, covering a bigger sample size, and using other set of variables that can affect the TV viewing patterns of children. Other researchers are also encouraged to explore the field since there are not so many studies about them in the country.