With so many children tuned into television every day, one would think that children's shows would be the main focus, but in the United States that isn't the fact. American public broadcasting only carries about 200 hours of children's programs a year and they rely heavily on reruns. When compared to England, whose British Broadcasting Corporation airs about 840 hours of children's programs a year, the comparison is astounding (Federman, 1996). Children's programs are also based on merchandise more than anything else. Networks and toy companies base their shows and cartoons around toys that are popular, lessening the educational worth of programs. So without proper programs, children are forced to change the channel to watch other things which may not be appropriate. According to the Nielson Media Research, children watch more television from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. than they do on Saturday mornings or on weekday afternoons. The study also found that on a typical night in the United States, 13.1 million children seventeen and younger are watching prime-time shows. Children aren't just exposed to sex during prime time hours, they are exposed to it during daytime soap operas, daytime talk shows, music videos which play constantly, and also in programs which are supposed to be intended for children. Young children watching television are also affected differently than adults are. Children up to the age of three and four are unable to distinguish fact from fantasy. .
Sex on Television 5.
In a young child's mind, television is a source of entirely factual information regarding how the world works. Children who watch a lot of television are also more likely to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place. It has also been found that children who watch an excess of two to three hours of television a day have significantly lower reading scores. In this day and age the television is often used by parents as an entertaining "baby-sitter".