SD 1.5

TV VIEWING HABITS

Excessive television watching is negatively related to children’s and youths’ academic attainment. For example, children and adolescents in grades 4, 8, and 11 who watch five or more hours of television per day have on average substantially lower test scores than other children.⁴ Yet, as depicted in Figure SD 1.5, substantial percentages of students report watching large amounts of television on a daily basis.

Differences by Age. The percentage of children who report watching excessive amounts of television declines with age, as indicated in Figure SD 1.5. Among 9-year-olds, almost one-fifth (19 percent) reported watching six or more hours of television each day in 1994. Among 13-year-old students, 13 percent watched six or more hours of television. Among 17-year-olds, only 8 percent watched this amount of television each day. For all three age groups, the percentage of students spending six or more hours a day watching television increased between 1982 and 1986, and then declined through 1994.

Differences by Gender. In general, larger proportions of boys than girls are watching television for long periods of time. This gender difference is particularly notable among younger students (see Table SD 1.5.A). In 1994, 23 percent of 9-year-old boys watched television for six or more hours per day, compared to 16 percent of girls in that age group.

Differences by Race and Ethnicity.⁵ For each age group and for each time point of assessment, larger proportions of black students watch television for six or more hours per day than do either white or Hispanic students. For example, among 9-year-old students, 40 percent of black students, compared to only 14 percent of white students, and 22 percent of Hispanic students reported watching television six or more hours per day during 1994 (see Table SD 1.5.A).

Differences by Type of School. In general, smaller percentages of children and adolescents who attend private school spend six or more hours per day watching television, than do students who attend public school, although the differences are usually not very large (see Tables SD 1.5.A, SD 1.5.B, and SD 1.5.C).

Differences by Parents’ Educational Level. Children’s television viewing habits also vary by parents’ educational level. In general, as parents’ educational levels increase, the percentages of children watching excessive amounts of television declines. In 1994, 23 percent of 13-year-olds whose parents had less than a high school education were watching six or more hours of television per day, compared to 17 percent of students with parents who graduated from high school, and 9 percent of students whose parents graduated from college (see Table SD 1.5.B). A similar pattern is evident for 17-year-olds (see Table SD 1.5.C).
 

Figure SD 1.5   Percentage of Students Who Watch Six or More Hours of Television per Day, by Age, 1982-1994

Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trend Assessment and unpublished Trend Almanacs, 1978-1990.
 
 

Table SD 1.5.A  Percentage of 9-Year-Old Students Who Watch Six or More Hours of Television per Day, by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Type of School: 1982-1994
					1982	1986	1990	1992	1994
					———	———	———	———	———
Total					26	31	23	19	19
	Gender
		Male			30	34	27	22	23
		Female			23	27	20	17	16
	Race/Ethnicity
		White, non-Hispanic			23	26	18	14	14
		Black, non-Hispanic			43	53	47	41	40
		Hispanic			28	33	26	25	22
	Type of School
		Public			27	32	24	21	19
		Private			21	24	18	5	11
Note: Parent’s education is not reported at age 9 because approximately one third of these students did not know their parent’s education level.   Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trend Assessment; and unpublished Trend Almanacs, 1978-1990.

 
 

Table SD 1.5.B   Percentage of 13-Year-Old Students Who Watch Six or More Hours of Television per Day, by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Type of School, and Parent’s Highest Level of Education: 1982-1994
					1982	1986	1990	1992	1994
					———	———	———	———	———
Total					16	20	17	13	13
	Gender
		Male			18	21	18	14	15
		Female			15	19	15	11	12
	Race/Ethnicity
		White, non-Hispanic			13	17	12	8	8
		Black, non-Hispanic			32	40	35	31	35
		Hispanic			19	21	18	19	19
	Type of School
		Public			17	20	17	14	14
		Private			13	(*)	11	6	4
	Parents’ Highest Level of
	Education
		Less than high school			23	32	24	21	23
		Graduate high school			18	22	19	16	17
		More than high school			13	18	12	9	13
		Graduated college			12	15	13	9	9
*Too few observations for a reliable estimate.   Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trend Assessment; and unpublished Trend Almanacs, 1978-1990.

 
 

Table SD 1.5.C  Percentage of 17-Year-Old Students Who Watch Six or More Hours of Television  per Day by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Type of School, and Parent’s Highest Level of Education: 1978-1994
					1978	1982	1986	1990	1992	1994
					———	———	———	———	———	———
Total					5	6	9	9	7	8
	Gender
		Male			5	7	10	9	7	10
		Female			5	6	8	8	7	7
	Race/Ethnicity
		White, non-Hispanic			4	5	6	6	4	5
		Black, non-Hispanic			13	14	22	23	21	24
		Hispanic			7	6	12	8	6	9
	Type of School
		Public			5	7	9	9	7	8
		Private			4	3	(*)	(*)	3	3
	Parents’ Highest Level   of Education
		Less than high school			8	10	17	11	10	14
		Graduate high school			5	8	10	11	10	12
		More than high school			4	4	9	8	5	8
		Graduated college			3	4	4	5	5	5
*Too few observations for a reliable estimate.   Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trend Assessment; and unpublished Trend Almanacs, 1978-1990.

⁵ Estimates for whites and blacks exclude Hispanics of those races.
 
 

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