The Role of Entertainment Television in Shaping Social Behaviour of Children. A case of Kinondoni Municipality in Dar Es Salaam Region
Television as an electronic medium of communication has evolved into a potent force to be reckoned with in the transmission of social values and norms in a civilised society. It has not only become a part of everyday life, but serves as a veritable source of information, education and entertainment by the reason of its dramatic and demonstrative powers. It was observed that teenagers fall into the category of media audience that spends a lot of time watching TV. Therefore, it plays an important role in structuring their lives in some shape and form also leading to the likelyhood of forming false ideals.The study sought to find out the frequency of teenagers’ exposure to entertainment TV; the kinds of entertainment programmes they watch; what they pay attention to in the programmes they watch; and how the entertainment programmes shape their world view concerning social behaviour in their environment. The results of the study showed that children frequently watched entertainment TV as represented by 92.5% of them who indicated so. It was also evident that there was a significant relationship between children’s frequency of exposure to entertainment television and programmes, and its role in shaping their social behaviour. It was also noted that the influence of the programmes on the children could be negative or positive depending on the individual child and the kind of programme he or she is exposed to. The study recommends that television entertainment programme developers and broadcasters should develop, produce and broadcast entertainment programmes with high positive values, while the negative social values should be de-emphasized.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations