Reality television shows grab kids too

Primary school children are now just as hooked on reality shows as adults, according to a look at the top children's programmes in 2005 compared to 10 years ago.

Figures compiled for the Herald by AGB Nielsen Media Research show eight of the top 20 series watched by 5 to 12-year-olds last year were reality shows.

The list includes Super Nanny, NZ Idol, Superstars of Treasure Island, Supersize Kids, So You Wanna Be a Popstar, Extreme Makeover: the Home Edition, and Demons to Darlings.

Child psychologist Glen Stenhouse said most reality shows watched by children were harmless.

Instead of watching Donald Trump terrorise apprentices or Paris Hilton terrorising small towns in The Simple Life, children watched other children terrorise their mothers in Super Nanny.

"It's just the element of voyeurism, and interest in watching the bizarre and freakish."

Dr Geoff Bridgman, Unitec's associate head of school of health and community studies, agreed that the kinds of programmes most children watched were harmless.

However, he was concerned AGB Nielsen Media's research showed children aged from 5 to 12 years old watched an average of two hours and eight minutes of television each weekday last year.

"That means that maybe 25 to 30 per cent are watching over 3 hours a day, which is just too much."

The impact of Sky's 1998 introduction of 24-hour children's channels such as Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel has had an impact.

Children in Sky households watch on average 2.5 hours of television - half an hour more than children without Sky. Sky's share of child viewers had grown from 5 per cent in 1996 to 27 per cent last year. Dr Bridgman said excessive TV could affect children's social and educational development.

Although children were not watching any more than they did in 1996, Dr Bob Hancox, the deputy director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, said the amount being watched was a concern. In the US, the recommended limit for time spent in front of all electronic media, including the computer and games, was two hours.

"Children almost certainly use the internet, Playstation or X-Box, videos and DVDs more than they used to. So the finding the TV time has not really changed over the past 10 years suggests they are spending a lot more time looking at the small screen."

Dr Hancox led a 2004 study which found children who watched more than two hours television a day were less healthy later in life.

The peak hour for children was from 7pm to 7.30pm, when nearly one third were watching.

Children watched 40 minutes less television each day than the national average for all ages of 167 minutes.

Parent and scriptwriter of Maddigan's Quest Rachel Lang said television had some pluses. The programmes were something children could talk about at school and they turned into shared family in-jokes.

"Super Nanny is one of my children's favourites. We all do impersonations of Nanny Frost. Our family catchphrase is 'that is not appropriate' and we all joke about going to the 'naughty corner'. They love watching the children behaving badly." 
 

Most popular series in 2005, and the percentage of 5 to 12-year-olds who watched them:

Bro' Town 17
NZ Idol 15
Bro' Town repeats 15
Super Nanny (UK) 14
Shortland Street 14
The Simpsons 13
Superstars of Treasure Island 13
Supernanny (USA) 12
Malcolm in the Middle 12
The Zoo 12