ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I use the words of the participants to introduce the concept of autonomous children. Parents often referred to their nonviewing children as “easy,” or “independent,” or “autonomous.” In recalling their experiences as parents, they report that without television as an easy source of entertainment, their children have become very good at entertaining themselves. They also report, that as parents, they have not been able to rely on television as a babysitter and have, therefore, become better able to steer their children towards other, more independent activities. To frame these responses, I consider the research on children, television exposure and attention span. I also review recent findings on a possible link between television exposure and Attention Deficit Disorder. Lastly, I discuss family systems theory which predicts that parents’ expectations for their children’s behavior can affect children’s actual behavior. Using systems theory, then, it is possible that children’s behavior is affected by the expectations of their nonvieweing parents, and not by nonviewing per se.
