Studies have also found that more than half of all children multitask as they watch TV. They talk and eat primarily, but they also play and do homework. A few rarely look at the screen at all. Of course, adults multitask as well, but children seem to be the multitask masters and do more things at the same time.
Television program developers have discovered that children are growing out of spe- cific television programming earlier than they did in the past.Sesame Street, for instance, has
an ever-younger audience. Children want to move on. Part of growing up and growing older is rejecting what was prized in the past. Toys and programming suddenly, almost overnight, become something for “babies.”Adolescents reject the ideas and advice they previously wel- comed. Even adults may move suddenly into another stage of development.
The age of decision making has lowered increasingly as well. Children with working parents become independent earlier and are probably making more decisions on their own earlier.
Increased population in cities and multicultural influences around the world from migrating people also change the way we think, as does our exposure to an international community through the Internet. Children coming into a new culture must adjust, although their parents might cling to the old. Each family member may adjust at a different rate.
Parents might try to isolate their children from new and unwanted influences. Children in the host culture learn new values from the immigrants. The cultures could clash. All of this affects development in ways that it did not in earlier times.
Today much controversy remains about differences between the sexes. Certainly there seem to be some basic genetic, biological, and psychological differences, especially in activ- ity, social behavior, and the amount of aggressiveness. There have been many studies done, but results are not conclusive. My own feeling is that biological differences are greatly strengthened by the way we raise our children and what we expect from them, and that much of the testing is biased with prior expectations being confirmed. Regardless of the reasons, there are great differences in most boys and girls as they grow up, and I don’t see that changing in the near future.
There are also developmental influences within each family. Cultural expectations affect development. Order of birth affects the way children are treated and the way they develop. Makeup of the family (large, small, single parent, multigenerational) affects development. Deaths or divorce in the family, whether a child is adopted, whether there are disabilities in the family, family lifestyle, age of the parents, illness or mental illness within the family, child- rearing style, all of these and more might affect development.
A child is not an adult, and each child and each adult is different. As you write and develop your own projects, try to see the world from different points of view. Consider what you’ve learned, keep your sense of humor, and be creative.
Exercises
1. Check out a child development book from the library and skim the material. Focus on the differences between age groups. What new things have you learned?
2. Write a fact sheet about a specific child you know or can borrow for an afternoon. What does the child like and dislike? Does he seem to be typical of his age and gender? 3. Go to a school or playground and watch the children at play. What does this specific age
group like? How do they play? Summarize what you’ve seen.
4. Develop characters and a basic animated TV concept for a specific age group based on child development principals. Be creative.
5. Compare how a television show, developed for one age group, would be different from a similar show for a different age group. Discuss.
6. Develop characters and a concept for a film that might appeal to a wide range of ages from preschool through adults. What things did you consider? How did you successfully bridge the age gap?
7. Conduct your own research. Invite a small group of children to watch a video. Prepare a list of questions for the children about the video in advance. After you’ve shown the video, interview each child separately to get the answers to your questions. What did you learn about their preferences? Were they age specific? Do you think you got honest answers, or were the children telling you what they thought you wanted to hear? Could you improve your questions the next time so that you might get more accurate answers? 8. Interview a child about her favorite animated television show or film. What does he
like? Dislike? What characters does he like best? What was his favorite episode? Why? What does he think about the villain?
9. What was your favorite animated television show or film when you were young? Why did you like that one best? Was there some reason why you could especially identify with that particular one? What didn’t you like?
10. Was there a film that frightened you when you were young? Why? If not, why do you think you were so fearless?
11. Pick an age when you were young that you can remember really well. Try to recreate the feelings you had then. What did you feel? What do you remember seeing? Tasting? Hearing? Touching? Smelling? What did you like and dislike then? Who were your friends? What did you do together? What secrets did you have? How did you feel about your parents and your teachers then? What were your disappointments? Your successes? Save the information in your notebook of ideas.
C H A P T E R