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Print media affect children’s development indirectly through the
publications their parents read. Books and magazines inform adults how
to lead healthy and productive lives and proclaim the dangers of
unhealthy practices. Advertising affects the types of clothing, food, and

(especially) toys bought for children. Some toys engage children’s
imagination and are designed for groups of children playing together.
Other toys are more suitable for children playing alone. Children’s

potential for social and intellectual development is affected by which
type of toy adults are motivated to buy.
Studies on early literacy indicate that the amount and types of
printed materials that adults have in the home, as well as how adults

interact with these materials around children, affect the children’s
interest and literacy achievement. From the books that adults read to
children, children internalize attitudes, feelings, and biases about their

own and other cultures. Zach, in the chapter’s opening vignette, had a
chance to express aggression in acceptable ways through Three Billy
Goats Gruff. He was influenced in the kind of clothes he wanted by the

story Max’s Dragon Shirt. Books, like peers, provide children with a
vision of their world that sometimes reaffirms their own lives and
sometimes challenges their perspectives.

Television
Television’s substantial impact on all growing children began in the
1950s with the proliferation of TV sets. Three generations of children have
been raised with TV, and very different role models, interaction modes,

and experiences are now visited on American youth. Today, more than
99% of American households contain at least one television set, and
children start the viewing process early even before they reach 2 years of

age. Conservative estimates are that preschool children watch nearly 3.5
hours of TV per day, and this average continues through age 18. In the 21st
century, however, television viewing is becoming somewhat diminished
because of increased use of computer games and the Internet, and also

because children now spend more time in child-care, school, and after-
school-care programs.
Television influences children in direct proportion to both time spent

viewing and the overall effect of what is viewed. Certainly, eating habits,
family interactions, and use of leisure time are considerably influenced by
television. Commercials take up 12 to 14 minutes of every hour of

television, and in that time, advertisers try to influence viewers with all