How do families use media to help their children? And when young children watch shows like Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, what do they learn? Given the program’s mix of human and animal characters, fantasy and reality, education and “just for fun,” how do they interpret the content? These are the types of questions being studied by graduate students working with Communication Science Professor Louise Mares.
AnneMarie McClain’s research with African American parents looks at the ways in which they use media content to help their child understand their racial/ethnic identity, but also the ways in which they report helping their children deal with stereotypes and hurtful or scary content.
“Prior research has mostly focused on how African American parents talk to their kids about race, but hasn’t really considered media as part of those discussions,” says McClain.
Fellow graduate students Alanna Peebles and Maura Snyder are focusing on educational TV content for preschoolers. Peebles’ dissertation examines what kids learn initially and then apply one week later, after watching prosocial and science-related episodes. If a television program promotes sharing, will children understand and retain the concept? In particular, she’s testing whether short inserts at the beginning of the episode can help kids get it right.
Snyder spent months sitting with children, showing them pairs of characters, such as an animated sheep versus a live action human, and asking them which would be best for learning things like why humans have tongues, or how bees make honey, or how to take turns.
“My grad students are a source of inspiration, fun and joy. I couldn’t do the work I do without them, both in a very practical sense, but also in an intellectual, collaborative sense,” Mares says. “And together, we depend on the community. We couldn’t do this work without all the preschools and parents and children who agree to participate.”
That makes it all the more valuable that they found a resource right in their own department. Beth Horstmeier, the Communication Arts Graduate Coordinator, connected the team with Kids’ Safari, the preschool her sister founded and ran for years before she passed away. In the past few years, hundreds of children there have sat and played and watched and sun their way through research sessions.
“It’s invaluable to have this resource, and it’s really lovely to think of the connection with Beth’s sister,” Mares comments. “We’re all working together to figure out how to help children, and how media can play a role.”