ABSTRACT
Adominant trend in past research involving children and tele- vision viewing has been to treat children as passive consumers of television content, particularly vulnerable to and victimized by the negative influences of television. A multitude of studies have examined the influence of television advertising, the impact of televised violence and sex, and a wide array of other content-related variables assumed powerful in shaping children’s lives. In addition, traditional approaches to studying the effects of children’s exposure to television content have expanded to include the mediating or causal role of other personal attributes and environmental forces. 1
