ISU Researcher Finds Good Educational Shows Teach Young Children Bad Behavior

Children who watch educational programming are more likely to act aggressively toward their peers, an Iowa State University researcher found.

Iowa State University News service referenced the study in Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

Researchers found that children who spent more time watching educational programs were more likely to socially exclude peers from play and say things like:

“‘I won’t be your friend anymore unless you do what I say,’ or ‘You can’t come to my birthday party’,” said Jamie Ostrov, a professor of psychology at the University of Buffalo in New York. “From our viewing, this type of relational aggression is much more common in young children’s programming than physically aggressive behavior.”

Douglas Gentile, a psychology professor who was part of the research team, told ISU News that producers often include bad behavior to teach lessons, but children between the ages of 2 and 5 misunderstand it because they don't realize how the beginning of the show relates to the end.

Gentile said this doesn't mean that parents of young children should totally pull the plug on educational programs, but parents should watch the shows with their children to explain the plot along the way.

“Parents can comment along the way and then explain the message at the end. They explain how the insulting behavior or the ignoring behavior was not appropriate. This will help children interpret and get the message and help them learn to watch it for those messages,” Gentile told ISU News.

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