ABSTRACT
The act of watching television need not require much of viewers. Without ever leaving their easy chairs, viewers can be stimulated, entertained, educated, horrified, or intrigued by a never-ending smorgasbord of material. They need not respond to or interact with the material, they do not have to analyze it or criticize it, they do not have to remember it, they do not even have to attend to it continuously, and they frequently engage in other activities simultaneously. The television set simply provides continuous stimuli until someone turns it off. On the other hand, viewers can interact with, attend to, remember, analyze, and criticize what they see, and they certainly interact with many of the new technologies like video games. Several authors have underscored the need to help children develop critical viewing skills to help them derive greater benefits from their media experience.
