ABSTRACT
It was not too long ago that educators cursed the day Vladimir Zworykin invented television, calling it the "plug-in drug" (Winn, 1977) and reinforcing FCC Commissioner Newton Minow's contention that the medium was a "vast wasteland." Over the years, many educators have claimed witness to television's negative impact on young children's language acquisition, reading ability, and attention span in the classroom (e.g., California State Department of Education, 1980). The National Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) has waged war on television and, beginning in the 1960s, devoted much of its time and resources to campaigns aimed at modifying children's television viewing and what they learn from television (PTA, 1977, 1978). The American Medical Association (1976, 1982), American Academy of Pediatrics (1986), American Psychological Association (1985; Abeles, 1986), American Academy of Child Psychology (1984), and National Council for Children and Television (1979, 1980), among others, have followed suit.
