Educational TV Receives Poor Grades

Although nearly 70 percent of all children's educational programming is aimed at children in elementary school, these shows are more likely to contain violence and harsh language than shows aimed at toddlers or teens, researchers said yesterday.

In addition, although children's educational programming is supposed to contain "clear and salient lessons," 46 percent of children's shows lack any such educational content, said Amy Jordan, a researcher with the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

For these and other reasons, many parents continue to hold low opinions of children's TV programming, Miss Jordan and other researchers said in their study released yesterday: "The 1998 State of Children's Television Report: Programming for Children Over Broadcast and Cable Television."

A strong exception is PBS, which was ranked the best for children's programming by researchers. Almost all PBS children's shows were deemed highly educational with little or no violence, sexual innuendo or harsh language, they said.

The best shows for educational content are science programs like "Bill Nye the Science Guy," "Beakman's World," "Algo's Factory," and "Science Court," researchers noted.

However, of these shows, only "Bill Nye" rated a thumbs up from the children, aged 10 to 17, who were surveyed on their preferences.

The Annenberg center report, the third in a series, examined a week's worth of programs targeted at children ages 2-16 in Philadelphia. Researchers looked at 1,190 programs on broadcast and cable-TV channels, including ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

It also collected opinion from 1,200 parents and 300 children.

The study found that only 16.5 percent of parents expressed a positive opinion about children's educational shows, and only 1 in 10 parents agreed that there were "a lot" of good programs on for kids.

Still, TV viewing remains the "single biggest use of time by children in the home," the study said. Children average one hour of homework but 2.55 hours of TV viewing per day.

The researchers also looked for the effects of the new Federal Communications Commission rule that commercial broadcasters who want speedy license renewals must air at least three hours a week of "educational and informational" programming for children between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. They are further required to identify such "E/I" programming for TV listings.

In reviewing the E/I choices in Philadelphia, the researchers found that:

* The E/I ratings were not well known or reliable. Twenty-five percent of E/I shows were of "minimal educational value."

* Families with cable access can choose from 25 stations and 247 children's shows. Children without cable access lose half these choices.