CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. commercial television broadcasters are doing a poor job of providing quality children's educational programming, the advocacy group Children's Now says.
University of Illinois communication professor Barbara Wilson said a review of educational programming available on over-the-air television found 13 percent was rated as "highly educational" and about 23 percent was rated "minimally educational."
Most broadcast stations offered only the minimum of three hours per week of educational/informational programming, as required by federal legislation, and only 3 percent of stations offer more than four hours. More than one quarter of programs were found to contain high levels of physical or social aggression.
"As parents, I think we have a right to expect that if commercial channels are using the public airwaves, they're supplying something good for kids. That's what the Children's Television Act mandates. But I don't think the spirit of the policy is being followed here," Wilson said Wednesday in a release.
The educational programming delivered by PBS was rated significantly higher than the programming on commercial stations, with PBS offering more programs that emphasized cognitive-intellectual lessons compared to the largely social-emotional lessons offered on commercial television, the report said.
