Behaviour of nursery class children before and after the availability of broadcast television: A naturalistic study of two cohorts in a remote community

Nursery teachers in St. Helena used the Pre-School Behaviour Checklist to r ate the behaviour of children in two cohorts 18 months before (cohort 1) an d 42 months after (cohort 2) the availability of broadcast television. Acro ss cohorts, no significant increases were noted for the kinds of antisocial behaviours that television is often accused of inciting (e.g., :'fights," "interferes with others," "teases," "difficult to manage," and "destructive "). The findings challenge claims that television necessarily makes viewers behave more antisocially. Underpinning this challenge is the notion that w hilst children can learn behaviours from their viewing, contextual variable s help determine whether or not they perform them.