shows such as Step by Step and Full House, which earned ratings of 18 and 16,
respectively, in the same ratings period. On the other hand, they are much
more likely to be exposed to network news than to the syndicated News for
Kids, which earned a 0.5 rating during the same ratings period. It is clear that
the news is included in the television diet of many children. Even if children do
not select the news themselves, they may still be affected by news stories that
their parents are watching. In the spring of 1981, Cantor and
Sparks ( 1984
) did a mail survey, asking
parents of children in preschool, first grade, and fourth grade to name the "tele
vision shows, movies, books, comics, etc., that had caused the most fear, upset,
sleep disturbances, or worried questions" in their child. Although news had not
been foreseen as a category, television news was in the top 10 in terms of its
frequency in the respondents' replies. In 1991, Cantor,
Mares, and
Oliver ( 1993
) studied children's emotional reac
tions to news more systematically, by exploring children's reactions to the major
disturbing news of the year, the United States' participation in the war in the
Persian Gulf. It was found that 25% of a random sample of parents spontane
ously mentioned the Gulf War as a televised event that had frightened their
child. In response to a follow-up that specifically asked about TV coverage of
the war, an additional 20% of the sample answered that it had frightened their
child, bringing the total percentage of children reportedly upset by TV coverage
of the war to 45%. In addition, there were developmental differences in the as
pects of the news coverage that prompted the emotional reactions. Parents of
children in the younger two groups focused on the visual images that were up
setting (e.g., "the weapons shown," "seeing people dying"). In contrast, parents of
the older group said that the more abstract issues of the war (e.g., fear of nuclear
war, "the reality of bombs and killing") were what had ...
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