choose one TV show then discuss some questions

You will choose one TV show (could be animated or live action) that you enjoyed as a child. For the purpose of this discussion, “a child” is defined as someone under 13 years old.

Part 1: Briefly introduce the TV show (country, language, genre, release year, and a brief summary). How old were you when you started watching it? How did you discover it? How often did you watch the show?

Part 2: How has your relationship with this TV show shaped and (re)shaped your cultural identity, perspectives, and values as a child and beyond?

de Block, L. & Buckingham, D. (2007). Making Migrant Identities: Television in Children’s Everyday Lives. In Global Children, Global Media (pp.115-133). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Caron, A.H., Hwang, J.M., & McPhedran, E. (2012).Are the Kids All Right? Canadian Families and Television in the Digital Age (Executive Summary).(pp. 1-17)

Are the kids
all right?
CANADIAN FAMILIES AND TELEVISION IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Groupe de recherche sur les jeunes et les médias
Centre for Youth and Media Studies
We would like to acknowledge the Canada Media
Fund for their support in facilitating the diffusion
of our research reports.
Youth Media Alliance
Alliance Médias Jeunesse
1400 boul. René-Lévesque Est
Bureau 106
Montréal, QC, H2L 2M2
Fax: 1-514-597-5205
alliance@ymamj.org
Groupe de recherche sur les jeunes et les médias
Centre for Youth and Media Studies
GRJM/CYMS, Département de communication
C.P. 6128, succursale centre-ville
Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7
Phone: 1-514-343-7828
andre.caron@umontreal.ca
Copy Editor : Curtis White
Design & Editing : Pierre-Luc Chabot
Illustrations : Jean-Frédéric Koné
All Rights Reserved © 2012
Are the Kids All Right?
Canadian Families and Television in the Digital Age
Groupe de recherche sur les jeunes et les médias
Centre for Youth and Media Studies
Département de communication, Université de Montréal
Authors
André H. Caron Ed.D.
Jennie M. Hwang Ph.D.
Elizabeth McPhedran B.A.
In collaboration with
Catherine Mathys B.Sc.
Pierre-Luc Chabot B.Sc.
Ninozka Marrder B.A.A.
Boris H.J.M. Brummans, Ph.D.
Letizia Caronia, Ph.D.
I
II
Acknowledgements
First of all, we would like to underline the
exceptional collaboration that developed between
us and the Youth Media Alliance, particularly
with Peter Moss, Chair of the YMA, the Executive
Directors Caroline Fortier and Chantal Bowen.
It goes without saying that a project on this
scale could never have seen the light without
the enthusiasm, drive and hard work of an
entire team of people, who provided assistance
throughout the process.
We would also like to thank Groupe CIC President
Richard J. Paradis for his support in this
project. We are grateful as well to Michele Paris,
Alexandra Raffé, J.J. Johnson, Lyne Côté and
Katrina Walsh for their work editing the regional
chapters.
Last but not least, we thank the many families
and young people we met, all across the country,
for taking part, giving of their time, and
extending such warm welcomes. None of this
would have been possible were it not for them.
They provided invaluable support through
their curiosity, appreciation of the research and
exemplary suggestions.
We also wish to thank Bell Media for its
tremendous financial contribution, as well as
the Canada Media Fund for their support in
facilitating the diffusion of our research reports.
Dr. André H. Caron
Director of the Centre for Youth and Media Studies
Université de Montréal.
Table of Contents
Background
1
Introduction to Phase II Study
2
Methodology
3
Regional Analysis of St. John’s, NL
9
Introduction
10
From a Family’s Perspective
12
From a Child’s Perspective
19
Children take on the role of television producer
23
From an Adolescent’s Perspective
25
Final Thoughts
26
Regional Analysis of Montréal, QC
27
Introduction
28
From a Family’s Perspective
30
From a Child’s Perspective
37
Children take on the role of television producer
40
From an Adolescent’s Perspective
41
Final Thoughts
43
Regional Analysis of Toronto, ON
45
Introduction
46
From a Family’s Perspective
49
From a Child’s Perspective
61
Children take on the role of television producer
65
From an Adolescent’s Perspective
66
Final Thoughts
68
III
Table of Contents (continued)
IV
Regional Analysis of Calgary, AB
69
Introduction
70
From a Family’s Perspective
72
From a Child’s Perspective
84
Children take on the role of television producer
87
From an Adolescent’s Perspective
87
Final Thoughts
89
Regional Analysis of Vancouver, BC
91
Introduction
92
From a Family’s Perspective
94
From a Child’s Perspective
105
Children take on the role of television producer
109
From an Adolescent’s Perspective
110
Final Thoughts
112
Conclusion
115
Final Thoughts
118
Appendix 1
121
Background
For more than three decades, the Youth Media
Alliance (YMA) [previously the Alliance for Children and Television (ACT)] has been monitoring
the quality of Canadian children’s television and
all screen-based content, while keenly contributing to the vitality of the industry. The YMA also
actively undertakes original research projects to
advance understanding of children’s television
and the impact of screen-based media on young
people. Working with the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) and other government agencies, the YMA
continuously provides valuable insights into all
matters concerning screen-based content for
young Canadians.
The current research on children’s television,
sponsored and supported by Bell Media, is a
3-year project led by a team of researchers from
the Centre for Youth and Media Studies at the
Université de Montréal’s Département de communication, under the supervision of Dr. André
H. Caron, Ed.D. This groundbreaking project has
two parts. In phase one, we took a quantitative
approach and conducted a national content analysis to investigate the current state of children’s
television programming in Canada. The findings,
published in 2010, provided the industry with an
overall portrait of where children’s programming
stands, what its strengths are, and what new
paths could be considered. Through an analysis of
the relationship between types of television network, scheduling, and audience viewing behavior,
the phase one report also looked into what
children’s programs young Canadians are actually
watching in terms of their age groups, and what
are the most popular children’s shows.
Based on the findings of the phase one study, the
second phase involves qualitative research that
focuses on the ways children and parents appropriate media and media content. Our research
team conducted in-depth family interviews and
focus group discussions across the country. This
study addressed questions like:
— How do children really watch television in
2012?
— Is television still a prevalent medium in children’s lives?
— Are kids watching children’s television programs on the Internet?
— How did television shape us as adults and how
is it shaping our children today?
In their own words, parents, teenagers and
children across Canada answered these questions
and more as we attempted to explore the role of
media content in young people’s lives in greater
detail. The research was based not only on the
habitual media use of Canadian families but on
the ways in which they interpret, make sense of,
and use media during their daily social interactions with family and friends.
In the following sections, we will detail the phase
two research objectives and methodology, and
then report our findings based on the five regions
our researchers visited in their tour across
Canada.
1
Introduction to
Phase II Study
2
In collaboration with the Youth Media Alliance
(YMA), the Centre for Youth and Media Studies
at the University of Montreal has undertaken
an extensive qualitative study that looks at
children’s and parents’ appropriation of media
and media content in Canada. Based on our
knowledge of children’s television programming
from the phase one report, the phase two study
was designed to look at Canadian families in their
home environment and to learn about what parents and children think about today’s children’s
television programs.
The results from phase one (2010) showed,
among other things, a serious gap in the
availability and variety of Canadian television
programs targeted expressly at children aged 9
to 12. The study found that all Canadian-made
children’s programs represented a mere 2 out of
5 of the programs offered to this age group, and
that more than half of all the programs made
available for this age group were animations.
In English Canada, only three of the top ten
favourite children’s programs for 9-12 year olds
were Canadian-made, whereas with the younger 2
to 6 year olds, eight of the top ten children’s programs were either Canadian-made or Canadian
co-productions. For French speaking children,
the numbers were six of the top ten Canadian
children’s productions for the 2 to 6 age range
and five of the top ten for the older age group.
Generally speaking, 9 to 12, the beginning of
the “tween” years, is a particularly vulnerable
age. This is a stage where we see children
strive for independence and privacy, develop a
heightened interest in social media and overall
peer interactions, and broaden their range of
personal interests and intellectual capacity. At
this stage of childhood, they are still building a
sense of community and crave acceptance from
many different circles, be it at a peer, family, or
civic level. Moreover, navigating this age can be
particularly tricky for children as they tend to
mature and undergo these changes at different
rates and over different lengths of time. It should
also be noted that children today are increasingly
exposed to numerous screen-based technologies
that may impact on the amount of time they
watch television. This is relevant to the findings.
In the past, children were loyal viewers of many
quality Canadian-made children’s programs.
However, they now have access to fewer Canadian
children’s programs made especially for them,
and they have begun shifting toward viewing
non-Canadian programs. In addition, with
limited variety and quality of Canadian programs
targeting their age group in particular, many children have begun to watch content destined for
older viewers, such as general-audience or adult
programs, which are not always age appropriate.
Hence, the second phase was designed to interview Canadian families in their everyday settings,
in order to learn more about what parents and
children aged 9 to 12 think about today’s television programs made specifically for the 9-to-12
age group. Parents, teenagers and children across
Canada opened their homes and engaged our
researchers in this discussion, as we attempted to
explore in greater detail the role of media content
in these young people’s lives. In addition to the
role of television and its content, children’s use
of new technologies, such as the computer, iPad,
video game consoles, and cellular phones were
also investigated. Therefore, the study looked at
each family as a whole, in terms of how its members use media in everyday interactions, how they
perceive the impact of television programming
on Canadian children, how they evaluate the past
and current quality of children’s television, and
how they see themselves navigating through the
ever-changing media landscape.
Thus, our objectives for this research were to:
— Understand the role television plays in the
lives of Canadian youth with a focus on their
perception of children’s programming;
— Explore young people’s perceptions of media
content based on their interpretation and use
of these images in everyday family and social
interactions;
— Better understand the influence of television
programming on Canadian children in terms
of their values and identity.
Methodology
With these objectives in mind, the Centre
for Youth and Media Studies research team,
(comprised of four senior researchers and four
graduate-level research assistants), developed a
series of data collection instruments: 1) in-depth
family interviews in participants’ own homes; 2)
focus groups with, respectively, children, fathers
and mothers, which enabled participants to share
their ideas among peers; 3) focus groups with
teenagers who, having recently stepped out of
childhood themselves, had fresh insights into the
things that interest kids.
For each instrument, we developed specific interview questions to examine major themes, such as
children’s television viewing habits (where, when,
what, why, with whom?), parental involvement
(program selection and regulation), perceptions
of children’s programming in Canada, emerging
uses of new media. In the focus group interviews,
we included a memory elicitation exercise in
which participants were asked to reflect on their
childhood memories of television programs. By
going back in time to elicit childhood memories,
this method allowed us to collect valuable information about memorable program characteristics
that signify Canadian values and identities. It
allowed us to investigate in greater detail how
Canadian youth reconstruct these values during
their everyday social interactions. Looking at
parents’ nostalgic memories about childhood
programs provided us with vivid images of their
lives with television when they were young. It
also illustrated the types of programs they desire
their children to watch. Further information
about the methods and interview questions we
used for our phase two research will be discussed
in greater detail in the next section.
Our data collection journey started in Montreal,
Quebec, in the fall of 2010. Over the next 18
months, the team travelled all over Canada to
meet families in Toronto, Ontario; St. John’s,
Newfoundland and Labrador; Calgary, Alberta;
and Vancouver, British Columbia. In each city/
region, we conducted five in-house family interviews and four focus group interviews, which
meant that we engaged in in-depth discussions
with more than 80 different families (over 200
people) about their media use and opinions of
children’s television. It must be noted that when
qualitative in-home interviews are done, we
encounter all different types of families, quirks
included. It is safe to say that in this particular
study, our researchers saw it all. The families we
met came from all backgrounds and walks of
life, from those on welfare to those who lived
in mansions with 3-car garages. Some families
greeted us with freshly baked cookies, while
others had to move 12 boxes filled with junk
to even open the front door. There were some
families with as many as six television sets and
some with only one. One family in particular
kept theirs in the parent’s office under lock and
key. We met children on the honour role and
children with learning disabilities, children who
played four instruments and children who built
live-size pirate ships in their backyard. In some
houses, researchers were greeted by all sorts of
furry friends, from your typical dogs and cats to
one house with pet rats, and one that even had
a miniature pony. We met parents working in all
sorts of different industries. There was a teacher,
arborist, accountant, mechanic, kayak builder,
professional video gamer, homemaker, and government employee, among many others. We met
families from diverse family backgrounds, some
of whom spoke a second language in the home.
3
We met all different types of family structures,
including some restructured families. The families
provided an overall reading of media consumption practices in each region, but each individual
family also showed us great diversity in terms of
media usage and family culture.
4
The phase two study thus focused on creating
in-depth insights into media content and usage
as seen through the eyes of Canadian families
themselves and told in their own words. Each
instrument was developed to understand specific
questions from the perspectives of different
groups of participants in each city/region. The
study was approved by the ethics committee of
the University of Montreal, and the confidentiality of the research participants was ensured.
The basic criterion for selecting families was the
children’s age. Since we were especially interested
in those who were 9 to 12 years old, we worked
with a recruiting company in each region to
select families based on their children’s age and
to ensure gender-balance. Each participating
family had at least one child in this age group,
though there were normally two. Other criteria
included that each participating child had to view
10 or more hours of television per week. The
participating families also had to have some new
technologies in the home.
In-House Family
Interviews
To conduct the family interviews, we travelled
to five cities and suburbs in different geographic
regions: St. John’s in Newfoundland and
Labrador, Montreal in Quebec, Toronto in
Ontario, Calgary in Alberta and Vancouver
in British Columbia. In each city/region, we
visited five families by meeting with parents
and children in their homes. This allowed us to
familiarize ourselves with their everyday media
environment and get a feel for their home life.
Our researchers also took notes of the technology
spatial arrangement within the home: a detail
we felt was important as it indicates how the
family appropriates their technology. Each
interview typically lasted about 60 minutes, and
conversations were all video recorded.
The interview started with some simple inventory questions concerning the different forms
of media or technologies in the home and where
they were located. Specificities regarding cable
or channel subscription and Internet connection
were also discussed. Next, children were asked
about their general media use habits. For example: How do you watch television on a typical
day, from the time you wake up to the time you
go to bed? Which TV do you use the most? Do
you watch TV with your parents? What are your
favourite TV programs and why? How do you feel
(emotionally) when watching those programs?
In terms of perception of children’s television,
parents were asked to name the three best
children’s television programs for their children
that were out there at the time, as well as elaborate on the reasons behind their choice. Hence,
they mentioned the title of the program and
discussed their preferences in more detail. They
were also asked to voice their opinions about the
current state of children’s programming, such as
the availability of programs for 9-12 year olds,
programs produced in Canada, the impact of
television on their children’s lives, and how they
mediate/regulate their children’s media consumption.
Lastly, children’s computer use was examined in
terms of the online activities in which they engaged at the time, whether or not they were media multi-taskers, and the various websites they
visited on a regular basis. In addition, other uses
of new technologies, such as video game consoles,
iPods, cellphones and iPads, were explored. At the
end, the whole family was also asked to talk about
any changes they had noticed in their media use
over the past years. This question allowed them
to reflect on the ways they incorporated different
technologies into their home and changes in
the ways they used to communicate, learn or be
entertained.
Focus Group
Interviews with
Fathers and
Mothers
In each city/region, we also recruited five additional families to participate in focus group
interviews, where fathers, mothers and their
children were divided into their own peer groups
respectively. Thus, each fathers’ and mothers’
focus group was comprised of 5 people, and
there were approximately 6-10 children in the
children’s focus group. The focus group interview
lasted 11/2 hours, and the whole interaction was
video-recorded.
The purpose of the focus group was to let participants express themselves freely to their own
peers and to comment together on the current
state of children’s television. In the focus groups
with the fathers and the mothers, the interview
started with a memory elicitation exercise to
evoke feelings of nostalgia, where participants
watched a Chrome Experiments online video to
revisit their childhood home/neighbourhood. For
this activity, one parent was asked to share his/
her childhood address so that, when entered into
the website, a music video of the Arcade Fire song
“We Used to Wait” would play alongside flashing
Google Earth images of the participant’s childhood neighbourhood, street, and finally, home.
Participating parents were astonished to see the
streets upon which they grew up, which elicited
nostalgic childhood memories. Then the moderator read, “Now I’d like you to close your eyes and
to imagine yourself going back to your childhood.
I want you to think especially hard about the
programs you were watching at the age of 9 or
10. Bring those experiences to your mind. Think
about those experiences as you are reliving those
moments. Imagine how you are feeling, and what
you see and hear.”
Parents took time to first reflect then record their
memories and the emotions that accompanied
them on a piece of paper. In turn, each parent
shared his or her own childhood television
viewing experiences by responding to questions
like: What were your favourite shows? Who were
your favourite characters? Can you remember the
theme song? When did they air and with whom
would you watch these programs? Where would
you watch them? What is the most memorable
one for you? What emotions did you feel when
you watched these programs? After the memory
session, participants took a 5-minute break.
The second half of the discussion focused on the
present day, and participants were asked to put
on their parental hats and reflect on questions
similar to the ones used in the family interviews
(mainly about their opinions on today’s children’s
television, online content, and the best programs
for their children). Interestingly, parents spontaneously commented on the values they learned
through their childhood programs in comparison
with the values to which their own children were
being exposed. Finally, a role-playing question
asked them to put themselves in the shoes of
television producers, and say what children’s
programs they would make in that capacity.
5
Focus Group
Interviews with
Children
6
As to the children’s focus group, instead of having
a memory elicitation exercise, the children played
a drawing game to talk about their favourite television programs. Each child had a turn to draw a
picture of his or her favourite program, and the
whole group of children then guessed the program and commented on it. This sparked much
excitement. The children’s focus group also asked
kids to evaluate current popular children’s programs by watching several short clips (e.g, Suite
Life of Zack and Cody, SpongeBob SquarePants,
Une grenade avec ça?, Kaboum). Sometimes children who liked the shows would spontaneously
sing along and many of them were surprisingly
opinionated about these programs, eager to share
both positive and negative comments. They also
responded to the TV-producer role-playing game
where they were asked to work together to create
a children’s program for their own age group. In
this exercise, children were able to choose the
style (cartoon or live action), the setting, the
types of characters and the plot synopsis. This
gave us insights into the preferences of creative
young Canadian minds.
Focus Group
Interviews with
Teenagers
In addition to the participating families, we also
recruited five or six teenagers, aged from 13 to 17
years old in each city/region. The teenage focus
group was designed to gain more insight into
their viewing preferences as they looked back
on the programs they used to watch when they
were just 9-12 years old. The same evaluation of
the current children’s programs (by watching the
clips) and the TV-producer role-playing question
(since they had lived through it and understood
the preferences of younger audiences) were also
included. This data allowed us to investigate distinct (memorable) program/character elements
as well as important symbolic meanings based
on teenage participants’ recommendations for
developing future children’s programs.
Data Analysis
Our travel across Canada produced hours of
recorded materials, which were meticulously
transcribed in either English or French. In total,
over 60 hours of data were explored. We analyzed
these transcripts by looking for emerging themes,
which enabled us to gain in-depth insight into
parents’ and children’s media use and opinions.
More specifically, we analyzed the thematic aspects of participants’ accounts, while focusing on
the aspects that showed how parents, children,
and teenagers justified their viewing preferences
by frequently referring to their own personal or
nostalgic experiences. Hence, we repeatedly read
our transcripts and field notes (taken while on
the road) to identify and label recurring points of
reference in the data. Looking at the regularity
with which these points of reference emerged
then enabled us to define central themes, thereby
capturing families’ and participants’ specific ways
of appropriating media use and content in each
city/region. From all the data collected and interviews conducted, several important themes have
emerged, some of which are uniquely specific
to certain regions while others are universally
identified trends that span households across the
country.
It is also worth noting that no families or focus
group participants picked up on or mentioned
any gender specific preferences in terms of
children’s favourite television shows. Though
the question was never directly asked, neither
children nor adults spontaneously spoke of any
‘boy shows’ or ‘girl shows,’ or of any children
gravitating towards specific programs because of
their gender.
The only mention of gender-specific television
programs was made by the teenagers
participating in the focus group interviews,
many of whom did so. They remembered there
being very specific gender lines drawn between
the programs watched at that age. That said,
they were the only ones who touched upon
this element. Moreover, it was never presented
as a negative aspect, more as a matter-of-fact
reality of some of the 9 to 12-year-old targeted
television shows.
This report is organized as follows: we will
present our data, based on each region, and
specific themes that emerged from our analysis.
This provides an in-depth look at each city,
complete with direct quotations and personal
examples from the interviewees. We will present
our findings from east to west, beginning with
St. John’s and concluding with Vancouver.
To conclude, we will summarize our findings
and discuss the implications of the phase two
research.
7
8
9
Regional
Analysis of
St. John’s, NL
10
Introduction
The Carlson’s
The Eastern Canadian data for this study was
collected in St. John’s, the capital city of Newfoundland, with a population just shy of 200,000
people. The information presented in this particular chapter was collected over a four day period
in June 2011. Overall, the families interviewed
in Newfoundland are lower to upper middle-class
families with parents aged late 30’s and early 40’s.
Each family has at least one child between the
ages of 9 and 12 years old, all of whom were born
in Canada. The family household annual income
ranges from $34-120K. All parents have grown up
in Canada, the majority of whom have spent most
of their lives in Newfoundland and typically work
full or part time blue collar positions. Some have
university or college degrees, and vocations vary
from construction worker to teacher, healthcare
technician to retail manager.
Welcome to the Carlson’s, an upper-middle class
family living in the suburbs of St. John’s. The
mother, Lisa, is a local middle school teacher
while the father, John, works as a full time retail
manager. Both parents are in their early forties.
Together, their annual family income counts
somewhere between $100,000 and $120,000.
Joining them in the interview is their 11 year
old son, Kyle; an intelligent and well-spoken
young interviewee who is also an avid musician
and plays three instruments. The couple has an
elder daughter of 14 who is not present during
the interview, though from the information
provided by the parents, we can deduce that she
is academically successful.
The following chapter will present a portrait of
an archetypal Newfoundland family that best
embodies all those interviewed and then proceed
to outline the typical media habits and trends
that emerged from the east coast portion of our
data analysis. The themes will be divided into
categories which shed light on three different
angles to consider when exploring the question at
hand: a family’s perspective, a child’s perspective
and an adolescent’s perspective. As will be the
custom in this report, the names of the families
presented in this chapter have been altered to
protect participant confidentiality and provide
anonymity.
Everyone gathers around the kitchen table where
the family readily shares the details of their
routine media habits during the interview. For
the record, this family owns four television sets:
there is one in the main living room and another
in the basement rec room while both the parents
and the 14 year old girl each have a set in their
respective bedrooms. Kyle tends to use the first
two televisions the most to watch his three favourite programs: Mythbusters, Phineas and Ferb
and Star Wars the Clone Wars.
A typical weekday in the Carlson household
begins with Kyle and his father eating breakfast
together in the living room while watching the
Family Channel (a ritual that will be further
explored later on in the chapter). After school,
Kyle returns home and tends to spend most
afternoons playing outdoors with friends in the
neighbourhood but will sometimes come indoors
and watch television or do homework before dinner. While the parents prepare supper, he and his
sister enjoy watching Family Channel programs
in the main room. Evening meals at the Carlson
household are always spent either in the main
room or in the basement watching television
together as a family. They will typically watch
prerecorded adult sitcoms such as The Big Bang
Theory and America’s Funniest Home Videos as
well as adult dramas such as Castle. After supper,
the family will sometimes continue watching
television together, usually shows such as Myth
Busters and other Discovery Channel programs
which are family favourites. For the most part,
however, the children have extra-curricular
activities starting at 6:30 pm four nights during
the week, leaving little time for evening viewing.
Weekends are a different routine, when Kyle
admits to watching less television, aside from
the Family Channel Saturday morning programs,
since he prefers to spend the weekends playing
outside.
In terms of parental participation, both Lisa and
John are actively involved in regulating their
children’s media use and have set in place certain
rules to control this intake. For example, they
limit their son’s video game play time to weekends only, the exception being if he practices his
musical instruments for an hour daily. They have
also installed a password-protected parental control feature on the HD television in the basement
since they are not always around to monitor what
their children are watching. That being said, John
makes a point to explain why at times it is important to bend the rules when it comes to keeping
their children equal among their peers. When
discussing his son’s affinity for video games, the
father admits that although Halo may not be age
appropriate, he allows his son to play so as not to
be left out amongst his friends at school who are
all avid gamers.
At times, the Carlson parents worry that certain
shows made specifically for children of Kyle’s
age are too dramatic and do not contain enough
knowledge-based content. To remedy the situation, they like to watch as much television with
their children as possible, usually programs
broadcasted on the Discovery Channel, in order
to monitor what they are watching as well as
spend quality time together.
Media Habits
in St. John’s
With respect to television consumption, the
St. John’s children report watching 10 or more
hours of television per week. That being said,
the children also spend a good portion of their
leisure time outdoors, playing with friends in
the neighbourhood. Children typically report
watching some television before school and
habitually during dinner with family as well as
in the evenings. There are much less instances
of television consumption after school and on
weekends when they tend to spend more time
outdoors, although this is contingent on the
weather.
Though there is an average of 3.8 televisions
per household reported amongst the families
interviewed in St. John’s (4 out of 5 of whom
subscribe to satellite or digital cable), there appears to be quite a bit of co-viewing, or family
members watching television together, taking
place on a regular basis. This generally occurs
during evening mealtimes when families attest to
watching more adult-centered programs together
while eating supper. The 2 out of 5 families who
own Personal Video Recorders (more commonly
known as the PVR) choose to pre-record their
favourite programs to watch during mealtimes.
It is during the evenings and mornings before
school that parents and children normally
enjoy watching their child’s favourite programs
shown on Family Channel, YTV or the Discovery
network. There are also, however, instances of
children watching television alone, since one
third of the children interviewed have a television
set in their own bedroom.
While each family’s television consumption pattern is relatively similar, computer and internet
use vary from home to home. The families
interviewed in St. John’s have an average of 2.2
computers per household, meaning there is quite
a lot of sharing done amongst family members.
Each family typically has one main computer
located in a central area that is available for all
11
to use, though some children report having their
own laptops and therefore have more freedom
and mobility to use the computer and internet
wherever they please.
12
In terms of computer habits and online activities,
children frequent a wide variety of websites, the
most common of which is Facebook. In fact, 4
out of 5 of the Newfoundland children aged 9-12
interviewed for the study have Facebook, some
of whom claim to access their accounts multiple
times a day. As we will see in other regions, the
St. John’s children who use Facebook and other
social media websites vary in age, but most are
older, in the 11 and 12 year old age bracket.
The younger children have yet to sign up for an
account or, if they have, do not access it as frequently as the older children. Other popular sites
include MSN, online game sites and YouTube.
Few children report watching television programs
online.
As for other electronics, each household
averages 2.4 gaming consoles (i.e. Nintendo Wii,
PlayStation, DSI, etc.). Amongst the children in
the households, 4 out of 5 own a cell phone and
have an iPod. Only one child to speak of owns a
Smartphone, which she uses from time to time to
access Facebook and the internet, in addition to
all of the regular phone functions.
From a Family’s
Perspective
From all the data collected, several important
themes have emerged and resonate among the
participating families in St. John’s. The following
is a detailed account of these themes, highlighted
with examples from the five family interviews
and four focus groups that were conducted.
“We tend to watch
a lot of those shows
together”
As previously mentioned, not only is there a high
instance of family co-viewing amongst the St.
John’s interviewees but also active viewing on
the part of the parents. The distinction between
having a viewing awareness about a program and
actively viewing a program is evident in the way
in which parents are able to explain and discuss
the shows their children are watching. This
demonstrates the level at which they are actively
paying attention to the programs and the content
being shown. Co-viewing is the physical act of
joining your children while they are watching
television, or watching together as a family.
Evidence of parents actively co-viewing children’s
television programs in St. John’s with their
kids is seen throughout all of the interviews,
especially since most parents in St. John’s have
no trouble listing their children’s favourite
program names, characters, scheduling and
even recounting the plotlines of past episodes.
Moreover, many parents admit to enjoying the
same programs as their children, which no doubt
makes co-viewing a pleasurable pastime for the
whole family. Take the Doherty family as an
example, where the mother, father and 12-yearold daughter explain why they enjoy watching
Hannah Montana all together:
INT
Do you watch it with her?
G12
Sometimes.
Dad
Sometimes.
her daughter:
((Everyone laughs))
Mom
A lot of the times. He loves Hannah
Montana. Hehe.
INT
Hehe.
Dad
Well she was born on my birthday, the
23rd of November, so that gives me
reason to want to watch it.
Mom
But it’s a good family show.
Dad
It is
Mom
I like watching Hannah Montana too,
it’s good, you know?
The same father elaborates further on this
point, stating how much he enjoys spending this
‘family time’ together as it is reminiscent of his
childhood when his family practiced a similar
tradition:
I enjoy watching that too, and it’s just
those programs, you know, like, I mean like
Hannah Montana, like those programs. I
enjoy sitting back, you know. I like comedy
and that and they bring out the – it’s
Family, whereby we can all sit around and
watch it, which is great cause I grew up, my
family was close, so it’s nice to be able to sit
around like that and enjoy. I laugh. So does
the family.
As the above quote confirms, the researchers feel
that the act of watching television together as
a family is a tradition parents have carried over
from their youth. In fact, many of the parents
interviewed in St. John’s mention feelings of
nostalgia for their childhood spent gathered
around the one television set watching programs
with their entire family. These emotions seem to
have transferred over into their adult life, where
today many parents make a conscious effort to
continue this ritual and spend time co-viewing
television with their children. One excellent example of this is seen in the mothers focus group
when a mother recounts how she has carried on
this tradition not just with family co-viewing in
general, but even with specific programs from her
past that she now takes pleasure in sharing with
Highway to Heaven, I’d watch with my
mom all the time, just me and my mom
cause my sister was in bed by the time it
came on. And we’d sit there with a box of
tissues between us and we’d be snotting
and bawling and crying our eyes out. But
now I’ve got the seasons and I watch it with
my daughter, so that’s something that’s
stayed.
While co-viewing is an excellent way for parents
to spend time with their children, it is also
beneficial and much appreciated by the children
themselves. Many of the children in St. John’s
mentioned how much they enjoy watching
television programs with their parents as it way
to connect and bond over a shared enthusiasm
for certain programs. The mother and 11 year
old daughter from the Forrester family enjoy
watching Oprah and Dr. Phil together after
school – a time that is shared between just the
two of them. The girl explains how “we cry during
Oprah”, giving the interviewers an intimate
glimpse into this special mother-daughter
pastime. Further along, the same mother
and daughter discuss other shows they watch
together and why, according to the girl, this time
spent together is so important:
Mom
Hannah Montana we watch together.
G11
Yeah.
Mom
Like a lot of her shows, we enjoy.
INT
Ok.
Mom
Especially the twins on the boat.
G11
Suite Life on Deck.
Mom
Yes.
INT
Oh yeah. Yeah. That’s a popular one. And
do you enjoy it when your parents watch
your shows with you?
G11
Yeah.
INT
Why? Why do you like that?
G11
Well we just get to like spend time
together.
13
14
The Carlson’s offer an excellent example of how
each parent can co-view a specific show with their
child. For the children, these shows translate
to important time shared with each parent. For
example, the father and 11 year old boy like to
sit down together and watch Mythbusters on the
Discovery Channel because they both enjoy the
scientific aspect of the program. On the other
hand, the mother and same boy enjoy watching
America’s Funniest Home Videos and Phineas
and Ferb since they both enjoy the humour.
Though they may not always watch television
together as an entire family, the act of viewing
different programs with different parents
symbolizes a special bond each parent shares with
their son.
Another benefit of co and active viewing for both
parents and children alike is the opportunity
that arises to initiate a dialogue about certain
issues presented in television content. Typically
seen with older children, the parents find that
watching specific shows together acts as a
gateway to broach uncomfortable adolescent
topics that are otherwise difficult to discuss. The
father from the Hannigan family explains why he
feels it is important to watch Degrassi with his
two 12 year old twin daughters:
INT
And you were saying how Degrassi sometimes, it makes you a little
squirmish but-
Dad
Cause of the adolescent subject matter
that it touches on. Getting into about
like sexuality and stuff like that. But
that’s it.
Mom
Hehe.
Dad
That’s the way it goes, I suppose, you
know, but I don’t – we don’t talk to
them much about that stuff so it’s nice
for them to get a bit of exposure. And
sometimes when its on and gets on the
subject matter, I tries to um explain or
narrate it and that gets on their nerves
a bit sometimes right, I don’t think they
want to hear it, but anyways, it makes
us talk and think about things.
Though there is a significant amount of coviewing that occurs, it is important to reiterate
that the same families own on average 3.8 televisions per household, creating an opportunity for
individual viewing as well. One very interesting
excerpt worth noting is a comment made by the
McLeary’s. The mother and daughter explain how
their entire family enjoys watching American
Idol, even though they normally will not watch it
all together in the same room. Though the 11 year
old girl will watch with her mother, the rest of
the family will watch while spread out in different
rooms around the house.
Mom
We’re more into reality shows, TV shows
like that? American Idol, we’re
all into that.
G11
Yes. Everyone. Like my sister, my other
sister, me and my mom and dad, we all
watch that.
Mom
We all watch it.
INT
And you like that, when everyone
watches the same show?
INT
So it doesn’t bother you if they’re
exposed to it?
G11
Yeah well sometimes we don’t all watch
it in the same place. Like,
Dad
Uh I didn’t like the part where I was
sitting down there watching one day and
there were two boys kissing, that kind of
made me squeamish and uncomfortable
but they got a big laugh out of it and I
got uncomfortable about it but.
Mom
It’s on, but we’ll all watch it in different
rooms.
INT
Oh really?
G11
My sister and my dad would watch it
right here, we’d go up in my mom’s
room, me and my mom. That being
G12-1
[Mmm
G12-2
[Mmm
said, while they may not all sit
together in the same room to watch,
it is made clear to the interviewers
that this specific program is an
important part of ‘family time’ and
a common interest they all share.
To offer a possible explanation for this heightened level of co and active viewing among the
parents in St. John’s, our research team feels this
may be directly linked to the types of occupations
typically held by the adults interviewed. The
parents in St. John’s appear to have more free
time in the evenings to engage directly with their
children without distractions from work. Moreover, the average parent in St. John’s does not
have the same time-commitment to daily work
commutes as in Toronto, which also may cut into
this family time. Nevertheless, the heightened
level of co-viewing seen in St. John’s may very
simply be attributed to a different family culture
and lifestyle that is distinct to this region.
“He’s usually out
there till supper”
Though the families interviewed in St. John’s
tend to use media on a large scale, the children
appear to maintain an even balance between
media use and outdoor play. While children of
the same age in other regions of Canada rarely
mention time spent outdoors playing with peers,
all of the Newfoundland children interviewed
mention their outdoor play habits on more than
one occasion. When questioned about their daily
television watching habits, the children routinely
answer with roughly the same response as this
boy of 11 from the Carlson family:
INT
Ok. And just describe a little bit your
average day. weekday. Like, you arrive
here at 3:30 or whatever and you’ll eat a
little bit of a snack?
B11
Sometimes. And if it’s a nice day out,
when my mom gets home, she uh – I go
over to the subdivision across the road
and play with my friends. Sometimes I
come back and watch some TV and just
rest.
INT
Till supper?
B11
Yep.
Mom
Well, and usually he’s out there till supper.
It is worth noting that most of the children
interviewed would usually mention outside
play before watching TV as an after school or
weekend activity. What’s more, all answers were
given without prompting from their parents – an
indication to the interviewers that this is a
routine of normalcy and one that the children
generally enjoy.
A possible explanation for this difference correlates directly with the province in which these
children live. The parents in Newfoundland
continually mention the level of trust they feel
towards their neighbourhood, stating that it is an
ideal environment for raising children. They feel
‘safe’ when their children play outdoors because
of this strong sense of community they share
with their neighbours. Many parents have also
grown up practicing the tradition of ‘outdoor
family time’ and feel it is important to continue
this ritual with their children today. The Doherty
mother, who has lived in Edmonton (AB) and
Dartmouth (NS) in the past, explains the difference in comfort level she feels about letting her
children play outside now that she lives in St.
John’s:
And when I lived in Edmonton, my oldest
daughter was 5. And I can tell you for
100% sure, (girl12) wouldn’t have had the
freedom to be outside. I wouldn’t let her
have the freedom to be outside as much as
she is, living in Edmonton as I do here. Just
because of, I think, the crime and you know,
there’s much more to be afraid of there, I
think, hehe. From a parent’s point of view.
With the kids. Last year we lived in Dartmouth. Or the year before last. And even
there, it’s quite similar to Newfoundland
but even there I was a little more hesitant
because you hear a lot more about, you
know, drive by shootings and you know?
You don’t hear about that here. So I’m much
15
more comfortable with letting her – she
doesn’t roam free, I always know where she
is and that kind of thing but – and we live
on a very busy road here, but still, I’m not
as concerned with her being outside here in
Newfoundland as I would be in Nova Scotia
and definitely in Alberta.
It is clear from the above testimonial and those
of other parents that the tightly knit sense of
community and safety in St. John’s is an important and cherished part of life in this Eastern
Province.
Mom5
Family Channel
INT
The Family Channel basically…
Mom2
Yeah. And Teletoon
Mom5
Definitely over YTV, yeah.
INT
Now why over YTV?
Mom4
I mean, Spongebob’s the only one I let
them watch. That and Fairly Odd Parents. Usually though I’m flicking it off.
INT
Ok. Any reason why?
Mom4
Just the shows sometimes, there’s one
I caught (my daughter) watching one
time, cause it came on after SpongeBob,
and I came out and it was something
about teens. I don’t even know what it
was, but it was something about actual
teenagers in cartoons.
INT
Oh, 6teen? They’re in a mall?
Mom4
Yeah. So I said “no”. I didn’t like that at
all. I don’t want her to watch that.
INT
Ok. Do you have the same sort of feelings about – is the Family Channel one
of those channels that –
Mom2
Definitely
Mom5
You know, you don’t mind. You can sit
down and your kid can watch it 24 hours
a day. It wouldn’t make a difference,
you know they’re not seeing something
that’s inappropriate for their age.
INT
So would you say almost a level of trust
with Family Channel that –
16
“Your kid can
watch it 24 hours
a day – you know
they’re not seeing
something that is
inappropriate for
their age”
Of all the networks broadcasted in Newfoundland, the Family Channel is by far the most
watched by children and most trusted by parents
as reported by the families in our study. When
discussing which networks parents prefer their
children to watch, they unanimously felt that
the Family Channel and the programs they air
are the safest and most entertaining for their
children. Below is an excerpt from the focus
group conducted with Newfoundland mothers as
they discuss the reasoning behind their network
preference:
Mom5
INT
But I say, like, now for the age range,
for (girl 9’s) age range, the best ones are
definitely Zoey 101, ICarly, That’s So
Raven, stuff like that.
So I guess you can say that –
((everyone nods))
Mom1
Yeah
Mom2
[Yeah
Mom4
[Yeah
Mom5
For sure.
These parents not only feel that the Family Channel broadcasts responsible programming, but
that these television shows are the most age appropriate for their children. They mention shows
such as Hannah Montana, Corey in the House,
Suite Life on Deck and Wizards of Waverly Place
as being “trustworthy” shows that parents feel
safe letting their children watch unsupervised.
They feel that this network is sensible because of
its age-appropriate programs and entertainment
value and it seems that much more appealing
when compared to other children’s networks.
The parents and boy in the Carlson family
unanimously agree that other networks are less
appropriate for his age group, even if they are
cartoon networks that typically target children
and young adults:
INT
What do you think overall about children’s programs. The state of children’s
programs?
Mom
I think there’s some weird cartoons out
there.
Dad
Yeah.
Mom
Like I dunno, they’re – they’re not
the channels the kids tend to watch
anyways. But as you’re flicking through,
you find –
Dad
I find, actually, you mentioned Teletoon,
and kids don’t watch a lot of Teletoon
but I find a lot of uh, if you glance upon
it, it’s actually disturbing.
B11
It is.
Dad
The humour is pretty crude.
The strong opinions these parents have
formulated regarding appropriate networks and
programs tie directly into the previous discussion
of co and active viewing. Because parents in St.
John’s are actively watching programs with their
children, they are able to judge for themselves
what is appropriate and what is not, thus
enabling them to censor which programs they
allow their children to watch. A further example
of this can be seen in the adolescent focus group
where all six teenagers admitted their parents did
not allow them to watch The Simpsons when they
were 10 years old.
“The Canadian
shows say ‘eh’”
When asked if families see a difference between
American and Canadian produced television
programs and, if so, which do they prefer, the
answer generally lacks a strong opinion. Though
parents admit to enjoying adult Canadian
programs such as Republic of Doyle, both their
children and themselves have a hard time
differentiating between Canadian and American
produced children’s shows. For the most part,
the origin of the program they watch is never
an issue or cause for concern. As the Doherty
mother states, when speaking on her 12 year old
daughter’s behalf in response to the question,
I don’t really think she knows where they’re
originating from, so I don’t think she’d be
able to answer that question.
Some children are able to distinguish between the
two production origins by small clues, such as the
11 year old Carlson boy who thinks that Canadian
programs use the word ‘eh’ and the 11 year old
Forrester girl who remembers being confused
when watching a Thanksgiving special of one of
her favourite programs that took place in November. When asked to choose which one they would
prefer watching, the children are divided. Some
choose American-made television since their
favourite programs are already produced in the
United States while others choose Canadian, but
only if they are able to produce programs of equal
or superior quality to those made in the US.
The Carlson mother is a middle school teacher
who sees first-hand the influence American television has over her students, particularly in terms
of politics, geography and current events:
INT
But you said the kids in your class – in
terms of – at least in terms of knowledge, they seem more knowledgeable
about current events on the American
side than-
Mom
Yes, absolutely. And like I said, prior to
this federal election, I would say I don’t
17
know, if not half wouldn’t have known
who the Prime Minister of Canada was.
Whereas I’d say about 95% would have
known that Barack Obama was President of the United States.
18
Most parents feel that, if possible, it would be
beneficial to have more Canadian children’s
programming available for the 9 to 12 year olds
because they could only name american such
programs currently being aired. That being said,
both parents and children alike agree that they
place more importance on content quality than
production origin.
“It’s the parent away
from the parent”
It is indisputable that television plays a major
role in the lives of the families interviewed in St.
John’s. Discovering the different types of roles
each family assigns the television is a particularly
interesting part of the analysis since roles can
sometimes vary even between individual family
members. Universally, the families use it as a
means of entertainment, or to “take away time”
as one 11 year old puts it. It also plays the role of
conversation initiator, a shared common interest,
an educator and a reason to spend time together
as a family. There are, however, other somewhat
unconventional roles that television plays in
these households.
The 12 year old Doherty girl uses television in
her bedroom as a nightlight. She has grown
accustomed to muting the television and leaving
it on all throughout the night while she sleeps.
According to her mother, she takes comfort in the
light given off by the screen. While she is the only
one to speak of who keeps television on all night
long, many of the families interviewed admit to
keeping the television on throughout the day,
even if there is no one around to watch. In this
sense we see television taking on an omnipresent
role in the household. Even when it is not at the
foreground of someone’s attention, its endless
presence in the house signifies its ubiquity and
thus, in a way, its newfound role as a replacement
for the radio.
The Doherty father sees television as a learning
tool and role model to teach his child appropriate
social behaviour. He goes even further to call
television a “parent away from the parent”, a sort
of learning tool for their 12 year old daughter
when she doesn’t feel comfortable speaking
to her parents about certain peer issues she
may be facing. According to him, television
(more specifically the programs broadcasted
on Family Channel) acts as a model or guide
for demonstrating good social behaviour and
showing children how to resolve problems with
peers. They also reassure children that they are
not alone in facing these problems, that everyone
deals with the same universal issues. In this
respect, the father allots a portion of his parental
duties to the television, entrusting it with the
important role of helping to raise his daughter
and teach her valuable life lessons.
My daughter’ll come home and say, you
know, thinking in her own mind, wouldn’t
say it to her mom and dad, you know, that
this is what’s happening to me. If they
have an occurrence at school, they don’t
really want to come home and tell because
they figure that they’ll get their friends in
trouble and mom and dad will phone the
school. And so by seeing those different
programs, and we see it first hand, and
seeing those issues arising in regard to bullying and other issues, peer pressure issues
happening at school at her age but seeing
them on TV that are resolved at the end of
the program in the manner that makes her
feel like ‘well, I’m not alone, it’s out there,
these guys handle it this way, maybe I
should deal with it that way”, right? So it’s
the parent away from the parent.
For the Carlson’s, the habitual morning viewing
of Family Channel during breakfast is more than
just a form of entertainment. It has become an
indicator of time and scheduling. The father and
son rely on the order of the morning programs
to know when they must leave for school. In this
respect, the order of programming broadcasted
on television assumes the role of an alarm clock.
INT
You just mentioned now that before
going to school in the morning you
watched something. What do you
watch?
B11
Yeah, when I’m having my breakfast I
would uh watch Family Channel. And
then we would –
INT
What program?
B11
First, it goes in order like every single
day. It’s like Corey in the House, That’s
So Raven and then –
Dad
Suite Life.
B11
Suite Life On Deck. Hehe.
Mom
That is how they know they’re getting
late, apparently. Hehe.
Dad
If Life With Derek comes on, I know I’m
in trouble. C’mon, we gotta go!
((everyone laughs))
Dad
Sad but true.
Mom
I’m gone. So it’s just the two of them.
Dad
It’s easier than having a clock radio. I’ll
hear the shows and
most of the shows are on, you know,
they recycle themselves every week so
it’s pretty much the same show every
week, everyday almost. When I hear the
show, I know –
From a Child’s
Perspective
“Sometimes I go on
my computer at the
same time”
Media multitasking is a term used to describe
the act of using multiple forms of media at once.
In the case of these children, most say they
multitask while watching TV by using other
forms of media on a regular basis (i.e. laptop,
internet, chat with friends, play DSi, text on cell
phone, etc). It should be noted that in terms of
media multitasking, there is a varying degree of
frequency amongst those who do so which is typically reflective of the child’s ages.
For the older children (11 and 12), media
multitasking has become the norm, as we see
with the twin 12 year old Hannigan girls who do
it “100% of the time”. They will habitually use
their laptop to chat with friends online while
texting other friends on their cell phones, all the
while watching television.
INT
So if you’re sitting here and watching
a show, or it’s just on, would you have
your laptop open?
G12-1
Yeah.
INT
That’s your alarm clock.
INT
Dad
“Oh, it’s nearly at the end of Suite Life of
Zack and Cody”.
And what would you be doing on your
laptop?
G12-1
Facebook.
INT
Ok. Would you be on Facebook and also
chatting?
G12-1
Yeah.
INT
Yeah? And then what about your cell
phone?
G12-1
Yeah.
INT
Would you be texting at the same time?
G12-1
Yeah.
B11
We’re usually gone by the end of That’s
So Raven.
19
INT
See I – how do you keep track of that
hehe?
Dad
I know. I wouldn’t be able to do it. It just
boggles me.
Their father offers his own interpretation of his
daughters multitasking habits.
Dad
20
What happened with the girls, I noticed
that she can be on Facebook, on her
computer, the TV can be on and like I
said, if I go to change the channel, they
wont let me change the channel, I say
“you wasn’t even paying attention to
what was on”.
INT
Now are there programs that you watch
where you just watch that and you’re not
on internet and you’re not playing with
your rats or things like that?
G12
Yeah.
INT
Which ones?
G12
Well my favourite – my two favourite
shows are Suite Life with Zack and Cody
and Suite Life on Deck.
INT
And why is it that you – you’re not distracted by other things with that? What
do you like about those programs?
G12
I dunno, it’s just –
Mom
Yeah.
Dad
Boys.
Dad
And every now and again I’ll notice that
they’ll stop on the Facebook and then
they’ll start texting.
G12
No!
Mom
Hehe.
G12
I don’t really know, it’s just a really cool
show.
On the other end of the media multitasking
spectrum sit the younger children, aged 9, 10 and
11, who tend to focus more on only one activity
at a time. The three 11 year olds interviewed
in St. John’s all give roughly the same answers
when discussing media multitasking. The boy will
sometimes play with Lego while in front of the
television while the two girls are more likely to
colour or read and sometimes send text messages
during commercials. Regardless of what they are
doing, the three children make it clear that television is still at the forefront of their attention.
It should also be noted that children are asked
if there is ever a show they watch that is so
entertaining it warrants their entire attention, so
much so that they will stop media multitasking
when it is on and focus solely on television. We
found that among all children who admit to
media multitasking, all of them have at least
one favourite show for which they will drop
everything and just watch. The 12 year old
Doherty girl lists the shows during which she will
not multitask and the reasons why they receive
her undivided attention:
The children each named one or two programs
that require their full attention and therefore
during which they will never multitask. The list
includes Star Wars the Clone Wars, Degrassi, Instant Star, All My Children, ER, One Life To Live,
Criminal Minds and Hannah Montana.
“Oh, I love that
show”
The children in both the family interviews and
focus group are asked to share their favourite
television programs and explain the reasons
why. The following is a complete list of all the
favourite shows mentioned by children in both
family interviews and the focus group. It has
been divided by age to present readers with a
better understanding of age preference division.
The production origin or each show has also been
provided:
Age
Favourite Programs
9
The Simpsons (US),
Phineas & Ferb (US),
iCarly (US),
11
12
Phineas & Ferb (US),
iCarly (US),
The Simpsons (US),
Suite Life on Deck (US),
Suite Life of Zack and Cody (US),
Hannah Montana (US),
Good Luck Charlie (US),
Shake It Up (US),
Mythbusters (US),
Star Wars the Clone Wars (US),
Wizards of Waverly Place (US),
That’s So Raven (US),
Smart Guy (US)
Corey in the House (US),
Wizards of Waverly Place (US),
That’s So Raven (US),
Hannah Montana (US),
Suite Life of Zack and Cody (US), Cake
Boss (US),
America’s Best Next Dance Crew (US)
Degrassi (CND),
Instant Star (CND),
Criminal Minds (US)
Though at times it is difficult for children to
describe how certain shows make them feel, most
are able to express their rationale as to why they
prefer one show over the rest. The following are
excerpts of children explaining their rationales.
The first one is from the 11 year old McLeary girl
as she becomes animated when describing her
four favourite programs, Hannah Montana, Suite
Life of Zack and Cody, Good Luck Charlie and
Shake it Up.
INT
Ok, and why do you like those shows?
G11
Cause they’re really funny and they’re
like-
Mom
She says ‘like’ a lot.
G11
They’re fun to watch and um they’re
exciting and they like take away time
and stuff like that.
INT
And how do you feel when you watch
them?
G11
Happy. Hehe.
The 11 year old Carlson boy shares similar enthusiasm when describing his favourite program, a
cartoon called Star Wars the Clone Wars.
B11
Uh I dunno, I just find it really exciting
and stuff.
INT
It’s exciting?
B11
Yeah.
INT
Anything else? The characters or –
B11
Well, sometimes I just want to like figure
out when the next one comes on because it’s usually like ‘to be continued’.
That’s usually all of them.
INT
So you can’t miss one without missing a
little bit of the action.
B11
Yeah.
INT
You said you were excited a little bit?
B11
Yeah. And anxious to see what’s next or
something.
INT
That’s it, eh?
B11
What will happen.
INT
The “to be continued”
B11
Yeah.
INT
Hehe. So there’s kind of a suspense in it,
eh?
B11
Yeah.
Offering a deeper explanation for why she loves
her favourite program, the 11 year old Forrester
girl recognizes the positive influence Hannah
Montana has had on herself. She feels the show is
inspirational and sets a good example for how to
‘live out your dreams’. She also draws many parallels between the main character and herself, such
as a mutual love for singing.
INT
And how did those shows you mentioned, your favourite shows, how did
they make you feel when you watched
them?
G11
Happy
INT
Yeah? How so?
21
Like they’re really funny, so, like watching people like do things like – Hannah
Montana she’s like actually like a real
singer.
G12
Yes.
INT
And it’s usually on Family? Or YTV?
G12
Family.
INT
Mm hm.
INT
Family. Ok. And then you fall asleep?
G11
And when she was little, it mentioned.
how she always wanted to be one.
G12
Yeah hehe.
INT
And then you wake up in the morning
and it’s there again.
G12
Yeah.
G11
22
INT
Really?
G11
So like she kinda lived out her dream.
Mom
And (girl 11) loves to sing.
“I like that channel
the best cause it’s
about people my
age”
While children may watch other shows on
different networks, the Family Channel appears
to be the ‘default’, or ‘go to’ channel when
they turn on the television. It also plays host
to the majority of their favourite programs,
the most commonly mentioned being Hannah
Montana, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Wizards
of Waverly Place and That’s So Raven. The 12
year old Doherty girl in particular, who keeps her
television in her bedroom on but muted all night
long, confirms that it is the channel that is always
kept on:
Mom
Well, she keeps her TV on all night. It’s
a habit she’s gotten into. But she puts
the volume way down. She just likes the
light from it hehe. So I think when she
wakes, she’s probably watching it but
not hearing it for a while
INT
Ok. What channel is it on?
G12
Um Family. Yeah. And I watch YTV and
stuff.
INT
So, when you go to bed, your TV is on
but the sound is off?
Mom
Yes.
She then offers her an explanation as to why she
prefers watching it over others:
I kind of watch the same channels cause
every other channel is not really for my age.
I find Family the best one cause it’s about
people my age and they make up shows
about it and stuff.
The Doherty girl is not the only child who admits
to watching this channel more often than other
networks. The 11 year old McLeary daughter
recounts how the main television set in the living
room is almost always tuned into this channel,
since, as her mother reaffirms, “she controls the
TV down here”. Her reasoning for liking these
programs is because they are “really funny”,
“exciting” and they “take away time”. Though they
all prefer it for different reasons, it appears to be
the most watched network among the children
interviewed in St. John’s.
“One day, it just
never came on no
more”
One subject that is quick to bring emotions to the
surface is favourite television programs that have
been cancelled and are no longer broadcasted.
Often times, some of the most popular shows
will cease producing new episodes but replay old
episodes, although sometimes these will only play
in late-night programming slots that are inaccessible to children or taken off the air all together.
Though these emotions typically manifest as anger or sadness, the children in St. John’s are very
open to sharing their feelings on this subject matter. The McLeary girl openly discusses some of
her favourite shows that have been taken off the
air and how frustrated she felt when they were
no longer broadcasted. In the instance below, she
expresses her irritation over the cancellation of
Zoey 101 and That’s So Raven.
INT
How did you feel when those shows
went off the air?
G11
Really mad. I loved them shows.
Mom
She was sad.
G11
Like one day, it just never came on no
more.
INT
Oh no!
G11
I liked them shows.
The 11 year old Forrester girl shares the same
feelings of frustration over the cancellation of
one of her favourite programs, Smart Guy.
INT
Ok so Suite Life and That’s So Raven?
Those would be your two main favourite
shows? There’s not a third one that you
could add?
G11
Well it used to come on but it doesn’t
any more, Smart Guy.
INT
Ok, Smart Guy. And they – they took it
off?
G11
Yeah.
INT
Oh, that’s disappointing. How did you
feel when they took it off?
G11
I wasn’t very happy.
INT
No? Why?
G11
I just loved to watch it and it was so
funny.
The girl mentions that she will now go online to
watch old episodes of Smart Guy and another
program called Dave the Barbarian on YouTube,
but does so only because watching them on
television is no longer an option. Besides going
online to watch episodes taken off air, none of the
children in St. John’s spend much time watching
television online. In fact, the only mention of
this activity comes from the McLeary girl who
will sometimes search her favourite clips from
Hannah Montana on YouTube and rewatch them
over and over. Aside from that, the children much
prefer to watch television on the actual television
set. In terms of broadcaster websites, there is
some talk of venturing on family.ca and ytv.ca to
play games, though not much. The 12-year-old
Doherty girl mentions how she used to frequent
those sites a year or two ago but finds herself
visiting them less and less now that she has
found other online gaming sites to play on.
23
Children take
on the role
of television
producer
“There needs to be
hot geeks in the
show”
One activity in the children’s focus group
encourages them to assume the role of television
producers and brainstorm the ultimate children’s
television program. The children in St. John’s
decide to have their television program be set in
Canada, specifically on a beach in Newfoundland.
The show would focus on two siblings, a girl
and a boy, who have survived a plane crash and
are now stranded on a remote beach. Each 20
minute episode would focus on their different
attempts at being rescued. They would like to see
a ‘Tom and Jerry’ style rivalry between the boy
and girl character which would allow children to
sympathize with one or the other, depending on
their sex.
The children also feel that humour is the most
important element of a television show, much
more important than having knowledge-based
content as they worry that a show cannot be
funny if it is educational. The only educational
aspects they would like to see included in their
program is island natives teaching the siblings
survival skills. As one 9 year old girl says, “Not
like teach teach but they teach them how to do
it. Like educational but not.” Another 9 year old
feels that having “hot geeks” in the show is essential. When asked how its’ viewers should feel
after watching the program, one girl states they
should feel like “they really want to write a letter
to the people that invented it”.
24
Some of the children in the family interviews
expressed ideas for new programs and frustrations with current television productions. When
asked what kind of program she would make for
children her age if she were a producer, the 12
year old Doherty girl gives a very detailed and
well thought out answer. Her suggestions seem to
mimic the Family Channel formula of live action
programs focusing on the lives of pre-teens, their
family and friends, and the social issues children
typically face at that age. She is very insistent on
the program being live action over cartoon since
it is more realistic.
INT
What would be the storyline?
G12
Um well, I’d want it to be a good show
for my age because I’d want people to
like it so I’d put like real actors in it and
I’d make up a problem, like maybe me
and my friends got into an argument
or something and my friend’s mom and
dad and my mom and dad talked about
it and then we like talk it out, like cause
I find it really cool that they – all the
shows are about how people can fix their
problems and they know how to work it
out and the people who are watching it,
they do the same thing. So it helps.
INT
So things – things that happen in everyday life?
G12
Yeah. Like in ordinary yeah.
INT
Things that happen – that could happen
to you?
G12
Yeah, like real stuff.
INT
And see how that’s resolved?
G12
Yeah.
The 11 year old McLeary girl has strong feelings
towards the state of today’s children’s television
that are not so much suggestions for producers
as much as general observations and complaints.
She and her mother are both of the same opinion
that there are currently too many new shows
on television. They feel these shows are being
created too quickly and without much thought or
attention given to detail; that they are of lower
quality and less original than the older Family
Channel shows. She feels they are “running out of
ideas” for new shows, making them not nearly as
entertaining.
Mom
Yeah, everyday there’s a new show.
Every single day.
G11
Yeah and they’re not good at all.
INT
Oh no?
G11
They’re not good. Like Shake It Up’s sort
of new but that’s a really good show. It’s
funny. But like now the newest shows
coming out say like now, like in a week,
they’re getting really bad and they’re
just like running out of stuff to do, I
think?
INT
Mm hm
G11
And running out of shows to make
because they’re all about like something
because like Wizards of Waverly Place,
that’s like about wizards and they don’t
want to make no more about wizards so
like they’re trying to think of something
new.
Mom
That’s what she finds, she says “Mom
there’s way too many shows” she thinks
that they actually are running out of
ideas to put into shows and she finds
they’re not getting as good.
G11
Yeah, they’re like taking away shows
that people really like, like Zoey 101
was like my favourite show ever, and
now it don’t come on no more. And that
was a really good show, and now they’re
adding weird show.
From an
Adolescent’s
Perspective
The group of Newfoundland adolescents interviewed in a focus group can provide us with a
unique point of view concerning the state of
children’s television. Seeing as how not long ago
they themselves were of the target study age,
the teenagers recount vivid memories of their
childhood television watching experience and
draw comparisons and critiques to today’s programming with ease. They provide an interesting
reflection on the quality, appropriateness and
entertainment value of current children’s television from a more relatable and closer perspective
than that of the parents.
At the beginning of the focus group, the teens
are asked to think back to when they were 10
years old and their experience with television
at that age. All the participants remembered
watching television with their family. They admit
that the mention of their favourite shows like
Hannah Montana and SpongeBob SquarePants
brings back fond memories of time spent with
their parents and siblings. On an individual
note, Hannah Montana was especially important
to some of the girls because it “gave (them)
something to look forward to, growing up”. They
also remember acting out scenes from these
programs with friends at school and in the home.
In terms of parental mediation, none of the
teenagers were allowed to watch The Simpsons,
Family Guy or programs that came on too late
in the evening. One girl recalls arguing with her
father every week over extending her bedtime so
she could watch Totally Spies at 9pm.
Interestingly enough, the majority of the adolescents interviewed admit to still watching old
reruns of these same programs. For the girls,
they continue to watch Hannah Montana for
the entertainment factor. For the boys, they like
to watch SpongeBob for the nostalgia. One girl
in particular explains that watching Hannah
Montana now has her re-examining past episodes
from a different perspective. When she was
younger, she looked up to the main character
and found her a source of inspiration, whereas
now she can relate to the main character as a
peer, making the show “much more interesting to
watch”.
25
In terms of children’s programming today,
the teens feel that kids are watching many of
the same shows they did at that age. While
there are new programs being broadcasted,
the teenagers with younger siblings observe
them watching Hannah Montana, iCarly and
SpongeBob SquarePants on a regular basis.
When the subject of Family Guy is broached, all
the teenage interviewees agreed that, although
they personally enjoyed the program, it was not
suitable for children aged 9 to 12. Moreover, they
would not feel comfortable allowing their own
siblings to watch it.
There are two points touched upon by the
adolescents which they find to be very important
aspect of children’s television. The first is the
distinction between boy and girl programs, or
the categorization of television shows by what is
watched by which sex. They feel there is very little
cross-over between one’s sex and the shows they
watch. They explain that if someone does enjoy
watching a specific show from the other gender’s
category, it should never be said out loud for fear
of being teased. The second is the importance
of having a catchy theme song for the opening
title credits. The teenagers are proud to say they
still remember the words to all their favourite
programs opening song and feel that a great title
tune makes a show that much more appealing. As
one girl puts it, “it’s an accomplishment to be able
to sing and know every word.”
The final activity in the focus group is
collaborating on the development of a new
26
television program for children aged 9 to 12. The
teenagers were torn between producing a cartoon
or live action show and thus decided to make
two separate programs. In terms of cartoons,
they felt the show should be humourous yet
unrealistic and take place in an exotic location,
such as the inside of a volcano or on a snowflake.
The characters should be ‘creature-like’ and reflect
the environment in which the show takes place
(i.e. elves if the show is set on a snowflake). For
the live action program, the show should feature
a mix of same aged and older children, giving
the audience certain characters to relate to and
others to look up to. The show should have a
limited number of adults and present a mix of
real life situations and supernatural events (i.e.
an adventurous storyline or character leading
a double life, similar to the current programs
on Family Channel). The adolescents feel it
is important to set the show in a high school
so the storyline can touch upon social issues
such as bullying, judgement and peer issues.
This also gives the young audience something
to look forward to and gets them excited for
their impending transition to secondary school.
Finally, few of the teenagers felt the country
in which the show was set served a purpose.
According to them, having a show take place
in Canada over the United States was of little
importance, as long as it was set in an ‘exciting’
location they would like to visit.
Final Thoughts
Representing the easternmost region in this
study, St. John’s brings an enchanting eastcoast feel to everyday life in terms of media
appropriation. While the families interviewed
here do share some commonalities with other
regions in Canada (as we will see in subsequent
chapters), it is not just their half hour time
difference that sets them apart. Through our
qualitative interviews, we have observed the
characteristics that make them a very unique
and traditional community which allows them
to stand apart from the rest with regards to
some of their media and television habits. Out
of all that has been presented in this chapter,
we feel there are certain traits that highlight the
distinctiveness of this particular Maritime region,
such as a strong emphasis on the importance of
family co-viewing but also the need for adopting
an even balance between extra-curricular
activities, outdoor play and technology use. The
level of active viewing and participation on the
part of parents, in terms of watching children’s
television programs is the highest seen across the
nation. Although St. John’s is the smallest and
most isolated city in this report, the participants
are by no means lacking in technology and are
on par, if not exceeding, other regions in sheer
number of electronics in the home. While we
recognize the importance they put on balancing
television and outdoor life, we must also stress
that the families interviewed in St. John’s appear
to watch the most television on the whole,
compared with the other four regions. They are
the most likely to keep the television on all day
long, even if no one is there to watch. In St.
John’s we also find the highest number of our
families interviewed who eat dinner together
in front of the television on a regular basis. It is
clear that, for the families we encountered in St.
John’s, television is still very much present in
their daily lives.
In the following chapter, we head to our
Québécois region of study, Montréal, to continue
our look at television and media habits among
Canadian children and families. There we will
explore their interesting and unique perspective
on the phenomenon at hand.
27
Regional
Analysis of
Montréal, QC
Introduction
28
Representing the francophone population in our
nation-wide study are the Québécois families
interviewed in Montréal, Québec. The city itself
ranks as the largest francophone city in Canada
and is second only to Toronto as the largest
Canadian city with an estimated metropolitan
area population of 3.8 million inhabitants. The
five in-house family interviews from this portion
of the study were conducted with families within
the city and its suburban areas. On the whole,
these families ranged mostly from lower-middle
to upper-middle class income brackets with
parents in their late thirties to mid-forties and
at least 2 children between the ages of 9 and 12
years old, all of whom were born in Canada. These
families hail from very different socio economic
backgrounds, from one family on welfare with a
disabled child to an ex-military personnel, a bluecollared worker to an early childhood educator, as
well as a technology engineer.
Similar to the layout of the St. John’s chapter
and all subsequent chapters henceforth, this
section of the report will begin by presenting an
in-depth profile of the family that best embodies
the archetypal household out of all those
interviewed, particularly in terms of television
and other forms of media consumption. As
is customary in this report, the names of all
participants in this study have been altered
in order to ensure confidentiality and provide
anonymity. An additional detail worth noting
is that all participants in the Québec portion
of this study are native francophone speakers,
therefore the interviews were conducted entirely
in French. For the purpose of this chapter, the
original citations have been left untranslated
to preserve authenticity, though explanatory
summaries written in English will accompany all
French text included in this section of the report.
It is also worth noting that Montréal was the first
region where data was collected and the interview
protocol was first tested. As a result, some of
the themes broached in the other 4 regions of
Canada were explored in different ways. Very
slight changes were made to the protocol after
this initial testing, primarily in regards to the
children’s focus group protocol, where one
activity was removed and the producer’s game
was reconfigured.
The Nadeau’s
The Nadeau’s are a reconstructed middle-class
family of four residing in a semi-detached home
located in northern Montréal. The mother, an
early childhood educator in her early thirties,
has two children from a previous relationship:
12-year-old Charles and 10-year-old Béatrice; two
bright and outgoing participants who are eager
to discuss their habitual media practices with the
researchers. Their mother’s live-in partner is also
present for the interview and appears to be very
involved in the children’s lives. All four family
members gather around the kitchen table and are
eager to answer our researchers’ questions.
The children begin by recounting the
particularities of their habitual weekly media
routine. Though there is no television viewing
before school, they will return home in the
afternoons and balance their time between
watching television, playing on the computer,
playing outside with friends and completing
their homework. At suppertime, the four
traditionally eat together in the kitchen with
televisions shut off. This is a rule the mother is
insistent on, since she grew up in a household
where television watching during dinner took
precedence over conversation – a habit she is
set on avoiding now that she has a family of her
own. After dinner viewing is a common practice
in the Nadeau household and one that is done
together as a family roughly half of the time.
In terms of favourite programs, Charles, age
12, has begun to lean towards more teenagetargeted programming (i.e., Les Simpson, Les
Griffins (Family Guy) and shows on Musique
Plus) while Béatrice, age 10, still enjoys shows
made specifically for her age group (such as Une
grenade avec ça? and Gérald McBoingBoing).
Since the brother and sister have different tastes
when it comes to programming, the siblings
spend a fair amount of time watching their
favourite shows independently of one another.
With four television sets in the household, it is
not difficult for each family member to watch
their separate programs simultaneously. While
that rings true, everyone admits that the most
frequently watched television set is the one
located in the living room, where they will all
gather to watch television together (typically
a mix between general-audience and children’s
programs). Béatrice reserves her weekend
mornings for watching television while Charles
tends to spend more time doing so in the
afternoons or playing video games, as he prefers
to sleep in. Both parents agree that were they to
summarize the children’s media consumption
between television and other media platforms,
they would describe Béatrice’s as being 70/30
while Charles’s has recently begun to even out
as he enters the preteen years, and now lies
somewhere around the 60/40 mark.
Speaking to the amount of technology they have
in the home, they are a very high-tech family.
Béatrice has a television set in her room and
Charles has a desktop computer in his, which
he uses predominantly for online game playing
and to check Facebook. The household has
four computers in total as well as four gaming
consoles and each child has an iPod. The mother
admits that having so much technology in the
home requires a fair amount of mediation and
tries her best to implement rules. She admits
that while she is very diligent about monitoring
Charles’s video game intake, she is less strict
when it comes to his television viewing. However,
the mother and her partner still some very
insightful opinions to share regarding the state
of children’s television for 9 to 12 year olds, or
the lack thereof. This outlook will be explored
in greater detail in an upcoming section of this
chapter.
Media Habits in
Montréal
When it comes to weekly television consumption,
each family reported their children watching 10
or more hours per week; viewing that typically
occurs after school, during evenings and on
weekends. A few of the children interviewed
attest to spending some of their afternoons
playing outdoors with friends as opposed to
watching television, though this is contingent on
the weather. Everyone admits to watching much
more television in winter when outdoor play
becomes restricted due to freezing temperatures
and limited daylight. When they do chose to
watch, viewing is never an issue as the average
number of televisions per household among
the families interviewed is 4.4 sets (the highest
among all five regions in Canada), with 3 out of
5 children having a television set located in their
bedroom (second only to Toronto, where the
average is slightly higher). There is no explicit
mention of PVR in any of the households, and
almost half of the families subscribe to satellite
or digital cable.
The families interviewed in Montréal own an
average of 2.2 computers per household and
everyone has access to high speed Internet.
Generally speaking, children reported using the
computer to play games, watch video clips on
YouTube, research homework, and access social
media sites. 3 out of 5 of the children interviewed
have a Facebook account, though none of them
meet the 13 or older age prerequisite required to
for membership. As for other electronics, each
household averages 2.5 video game consoles
(Wii, Xbox, Ninteno DS), while half of children
interviewed have their own cell phone and 2 out
of 5 have their own iPod.
29
From a Family’s
Perspective
30
Through analyzing the data collected from all
five family interviews and four focus groups
conducted in Montréal in November 2010,
some interesting trends have emerged. As we
will see, some mirror the findings discovered
in other regions across Canada while some are
specifically unique to Montréal. The following is
a detailed account of these themes, highlighted
with summarized examples, direct citations, and
researcher observations.
“It’s one of
those things we
sometimes watch
together”
If researchers are to elaborate on the most common observation seen throughout the Montréal
data regarding family television co-viewing, it
seems that families do watch some television
together, particularly in the evenings after supper
and sometimes on the weekend, and thoroughly
enjoy this time spent together as a family. The
mother from the Robillard family explains how
much pleasure she derives from spending time
watching certain programs with her children, as
long as they can agree on a show they all want to
watch:
Je trip sur le fait que l’enfant va écouter
l’émission avec nous. J’aime ça l’écouter en
famille.
The Robillard mother outlines an important factor that surfaced in all the Montréal interviews:
it is clear that the programs these families view
as a group are typically programs that everyone
enjoys watching. If certain family members wish
to watch something more suited to their own
individual taste, they need only retire to another
room to enjoy these different shows.
The mother from the Desiré family echoes this
way of thinking, albeit on an escalated scale,
and says she rarely watches television with her
children simply because they have different tastes
in programming. For this reason, she will often
watch television with her husband in their room
while her children watch their programs either in
their bedrooms or the main room. The one exception to this rule is movie night, when the family
will gather in the living room to watch a DVD all
together:
Mom
On ne regarde pas beaucoup la télévision
en famille. Moi et mon mari on utilise
surtout celle de ma chambre. Les enfants chacun dans leurs chambres, mais
des fois on va dans le salon.
G12
Pour regarder des DVD.
Mom
C’est ça, pour regarder des DVD.
The key factor mentioned here by the Desiré
mother is films. Many of the families interviewed
attest to watching more films all together as a
family than television programs, which could be
a solution to create more family viewing time
if they cannot all agree on a television program
they all collectively enjoy. This common practice
of “movie night” is seen throughout all the five
regions of this study and is an affective way to
bring families together for co-viewing. As shown
in the aforementioned Media Habits section,
the Montréal participants interviewed have an
average of 4.4 televisions sets per household,
meaning that if one is occupied, it is easy for
the remaining members of the family to watch
somewhere else. Interestingly enough, one
may initially assume that the high number of
television sets is found only in wealthy homes,
though this is not the case. For example, in the
low-income households interviewed in Montréal,
even the family on welfare, researchers observed
the same, if not more, number of television sets
and other types of technology as were found in
the wealthier homes. Two siblings from the focus
group explains how the practice of separate
viewing habits due to the number of televisions
can occur in their household:
B10
On a quand même 4 télés.
G12
Oui je sais mais toi tu ne veux pas aller
en bas. Moi non plus.
INT
Non ? Alors qui va en bas ?
G12
Des fois je vais en bas, elle va en haut,
une fois sur deux, ou elle va dans sa
chambre.
B10
Et mon père il va dans son garage.
The one program mentioned time and time again
that seems to bring the entire family together is
Les Parent, the Radio-Canada general-audience
sitcom in its’ third season of production centred
around a Québécois family. Almost every family
in both in-house interviews and the focus groups
mentioned watching this particular program on a
regular basis with their children. Even the Desiré
mother, who admits to rarely watching television
shows with her family, enjoys watching Les
Parent from time to time with her children as she
finds that it reflects the realities of family life:
Mom
Ouais [Les Parent] c’est une des affaires
qu’on regarde des fois ensemble.
INT
Pourquoi ?
Mom
Parce que ça reflète la réalité, ça ressemble pas mal [au quotidien].
Though they do not always watch television
together, this is not to say that parents do not
have an understanding of what their children are
watching. While there may not be as high of a
percentage of co-viewing as what was seen in St.
John’s, there is still a high percentage of active
viewing on the part of the parents, who take the
time to watch and understand the content of
their children’s favourite programs. To recap, the
distinction between having a viewing awareness
and actively viewing a television program is evident when parents are able to explain and discuss
the shows their children are watching in detail,
thus demonstrating the level at which they are
paying attention to the programs their children
watch, even if it means only actively watching
a few episodes. An example of this can be seen
with the Tremblay parents who, while they admit
to not watching much television as a family, are
still very aware of their daughter’s favourite
show, Occupation Double, and the premise of
the program. When the show first began, the
parents co-viewed the first couple of episodes to
ensure that it was appropriate for their children.
However, since content-wise it does not interest
either parent, they no longer watch it regularly
with their daughter. The Robillard father mentions he also takes the time to get to know his
children’s favourite programs by accompanying
them in the living room from time to time as they
watch television:
Dad
Moi je peux arriver puis m’éffoirer dans
le salon. Je vais m’asseoir pour l’écouter
avec elle.
INT
Vous allez écouter Tactik ?
Dad
Exactement ça me dérangera pas.
He says he does not mind watching children’s
programming with his children, though he does
not make a habitual practice of it. More instances
of parental active viewing will be presented in
the following section, when we explore parent’s
opinions of their children’s favourite programs
and see the scope of their understanding of today’s programming frequently watched by their
children.
“I especially like
those programs that
show good family
values”
When asked what parents in Montréal think of
their children’s favourite television programs,
they feel there are a few appropriate shows that
deliver good content and values, though not
nearly as many quality programs as were offered
to their children during their preschool years.
Generally speaking, they feel that public-run
31
stations such as Télé-Québec and Radio-Canada
offer superior preschool programming such as
Toc Toc Toc that is educative, stimulating, and appropriate. The partner in the Nadeau family sums
up this feeling in stating that:
32
Mais il faut aussi peut-être un peu diviser
ce que fait le privé du public. Je pense que
Télé-Québec et Radio-Canada ont des
programmes jeunesse qui sont quand même
assez développés et qui ont un bon contenu
donc c’est une dépense qui vient dans leur
plan de fonctionnement. Beaucoup plus que
Vrak.tv ou Télétoon où c’est vraiment une
dépense qu’il faut rentabiliser.
The Nadeau mother voices a similar opinion and
prefers the programs broadcasted on public channels for her children to watch, since she trusts
them more than the private networks. While
this may be true, the parents recognize that the
type of programming broadcasted on the public
networks is intended for a younger audience than
their 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds, which explains
why their children watch shows on Vrak.tv and
Télétoon.
Though they may not always measure up to shows
from their children’s past, there are still some
programs (on Vrak.tv especially) that parents
feel make for fun and appropriate television.
As a network, the majority of parents are more
trusting of Vrak.tv and Télétoon than some
other general-audience network, in comparison.
The Desiré mother states that she feels more
comfortable when her children watch Vrak.tv
because she does not need to monitor the content
they are viewing, unlike other channels where she
must mediate and actively watch the programs to
discern their appropriateness:
J’aime bien ça quand ils sont sur Vrak.tv
parce que je sais que le contenu y est quand
même assez sécuritaire, j’ai pas vraiment
besoin de trop surveiller. C’est sur qu’il y a
certaines heures qu’il ne faut pas dépasser.
C’est plus rassurant tandis que s’ils sont en
train de regarder autre chose, il faut vrai-
ment que j’observe et que je mets le contrôle
parental.
Though this is the general consensus, there are
still some parents who feel that Vrak.tv programs
do not always know where to draw the line. The
partner from the Nadeau family admits he sometimes feels the content presented in some of the
newer Vrak.tv shows, such as Vrak la Vie, are not
always staying in the 9 to 12 range, content-wise,
and can get a tad too mature for his liking.
While that may be, when asked to name their
three favourite current children’s programs, Une
grenade avec ça?, broadcasted on Vrak.tv was
by far the most cited by parents participating
in this research initiative because they feel
it demonstrates good moral values and is
humourous. Moreover, it is a Québécois program
that features Québécois actors and reflects the
culture in which they have raised their children.
One of the fathers participating in the focus
group indicates that he encourages hi…