What values do kids learn from popular TV shows?

Self-acceptance, image and popularity make it to the top 5, according to a new study

California: The values emphasised by television programmes popular with tweens over each decade from 1967 to 2017 was assessed in a new report by the University of California, Los Angeles. It charted how 16 values have waxed and waned during those 50 years.

How important is fame? What about self-acceptance? Benevolence? The messages children between the ages of 8 and 12 glean from TV play a significant role in their development, influencing attitudes and behaviors as they grow into their teenage years and beyond, UCLA psychologists say.

Among the key findings is that fame, after nearly 40 years of ranking near the bottom (it was 15th in 1967, 1987 and 1997), rose to become the No. 1 value in 2007, then dropped to sixth in importance in 2017.

Achievement was ranked first in 2017, with self-acceptance, image, popularity and being part of a community rounding out the top five.

The report, The Rise and Fall of Fame: Tracking the Landscape of Values Portrayed on Television from 1967 to 2017, evaluated two programmes per decade (and four in 2017), from The Andy Griffith Show in 1967 and Happy Days in 1977 to American Idol and Hannah Montana in 2007 and America’s Got Talent and Girl Meets World in 2017.

Like fame, values such as community feeling and benevolence have also seen dramatic rises and falls over the past half-century, with their rankings typically echoing changes in the larger culture, the researchers found.

“I believe that television reflects the culture, and this half-century of data shows that American culture has changed drastically,” said report author Yalda Uhls. “Media plays an important role as young people are developing a concept of the social world outside of their immediate environment.”

“If tweens watch, admire and identify with people who mostly care about fame and winning, these values may become even more important in our culture,” said the report’s lead author, Agnes Varghese.

The authors recommend that parents help children understand that reality shows do not depict the experience of the average person and that fictional shows do not adequately depict the hard work and struggles associated with achieving fame.