College-educated mothers' ideas about television and their active mediation of viewing by three- to five-year-old children: Japan and the USA

This cross-cultural study explores Japanese and American mothers' thinking about television and approach to the television viewing of three- to five-y ear-old children. College-educated, upper middle class mothers participated in a questionnaire survey. American mothers' attitudes toward television w ere negative and cautious. They reported more supervision of and more verba l interactions during their children's television viewing. Japanese mothers displayed positive and open views about television. They imposed fewer res trictions on children's television viewing.