FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The Center for Successful Parenting has commended University of Arkansas researcher Ron Warren for a study which found that the most involved parents -- not the most restrictive -- best regulate their children's use of television.

Warren's article, "In Words and Deeds: Parental Involvement and Mediation of Children's Television Viewing," published last winter in the Journal of Family Communication, was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Center for Successful Parenting Outstanding Article competition. It represents one of only five studies nationwide to be recognized by the organization.

"Part of the center's mission is understanding how the media affect children and helping parents find ways to cope with the media environment that will promote healthy viewing habits for their families," said Joanne Cantor, an advisor and spokesperson for the center.

"The value of Warren's study is that it explores how parents are involved with their children's television use," Cantor added. "The results of his research show that proper involvement is more complicated than just saying no."

Founded in 1997, the Center for Successful Parenting is a non-profit organization with a mission to educate parents and guardians about the impact of media violence on children. Its annual awards competition seeks to identify and promote public awareness of high-quality research that can inform parents and policy makers about this issue.

Though Warren's article does not address media violence directly, his study identifies the type of family interaction that leads to responsible use of television. Furthermore, it recommends guidelines that can help parents establish healthy, educational viewing habits for their children.

These recommendations have gained greater significance since the events of September 11, when children across the nation were purposely or inadvertently exposed to graphic scenes of terror, delivered into their own homes and classrooms via television.

"Those events made people hyper-sensitive to the need to mediate television content for their kids because so much of what people saw coming out of their television sets on that day was unfiltered," Warren said. "You can't erase or soften the horror of those attacks, but there's a lot that parents could have done before September 11 to prepare kids for what they witnessed on TV."

In his article, Warren outlines a three-part plan of action for parents to follow in regulating their children's use of TV. First, parents must establish rules that restrict viewing time and content. Second, parents should endeavor to watch television with their children, an activity called "co-viewing." Finally, parents should take the opportunity to talk to their kids about the scenes or programs they just viewed.

Though these guidelines seem like common sense, Warren found that fewer than 30 percent of the families in his study reported using all three tactics. Most families regulated their children's viewing exclusively by setting rules. But Warren's findings revealed that the parents most successful in monitoring and mediating their children's use of television were not those with the most restrictions but those with the greatest involvement in their children's lives.

To measure this effect, Warren collected data from more than 800 families. Through telephone interviews and take-home surveys, he gathered information about parenting styles and communication patterns as well as the number of activities parents shared with their children -- from domestic chores to recreational fun. His questionnaires also asked parents how they established rules, how often they watched television with their kids and how often they discussed what they viewed.

"The literature suggests that patterns of family communication -- whether parents emphasize obedience or open communication -- should influence how they use media in their house. But this study didn't find that to be a strong determining factor," Warren explained.

"What really seemed to matter was how much time parents spent sharing activities with their kids, things like recreational activities, family outings, even cleaning the house or fixing dinner," he said. "The more involved parents were, the more they supervised and discussed what their kids saw on TV."

Many scholars of family communication consider television a source of isolation in households. As a silent activity, they believe television prevents communication and interaction from taking place between family members. But Warren suggests that television can actually stimulate family communication and that it offers parents a powerful tool for introducing topics that they may find too awkward or embarrassing to broach on their own.

"If a TV program depicts drug use or sex or violence, that's a golden opportunity to open a conversation with your child. That's what we call a 'teachable moment,'" he said.

Discussing the content of a television show is an important step in founding healthy viewing habits for children. Such discussion informs adolescents about sensitive issues and where their parents stand on those issues, and it teaches younger children how to interpret and think critically about the messages they see.

Furthermore, talking to kids about how to view television can help them distinguish between staged events for entertainment and real life. In doing so, parents can impress upon children the consequences of certain actions -- violence or irresponsible behavior, for instance -- in the real world.

Finally, Warren believes that implementing these guidelines early establishes a habit of open family communication that enables children to talk about their feelings in response to what they see on TV. This can help them work through the trauma or fear they may experience after witnessing events like those of September 11.

"Establish a pattern of responsible viewing and family discussion before an event of that magnitude happens," Warren advised. "That way, working through the trauma and the meaning of those events comes naturally to your family."

---University of Arkansas

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