Television Exposure and Academic Skills of Children: New Findings from India

Abstract

The studies associating television viewing to performance are primarily based on developed countries. The effect of television on children in developing countries, like India, might be different from that of the developed countries, owing to cultural and socioeconomic differences. Additionally, in the Indian case, no study has systematically analyzed the relationship between children’s academic skills and television viewing. We examined the association between academic skills (Reading, Mathematics and Writing) of Indian children and television viewing using a sample of children (aged 8-11 years) who were in school or had ever attended school, from a universe of all the households included in a micro unit recorded nationally representative survey (IHDS, 2004-05). Relevant socioeconomic, demographic, parent/household-level controls were included in the multivariate analysis. The impact of content of the television programs was also controlled in the analysis. The analysis was done at two levels: first, for the full sample; and second for subsamples, formed first by sex and second by economic status. Findings suggested positive correlation between overall viewing and the reading skills of boys and the mathematics skills of girls, but negative correlation with the writing skills of both. The correlation of educational content with academic skills also differed by gender, with a positive correlation with the three skills of girls but a positive correlation with only the writing skills of boys. Moreover, educational content was positively correlated with the skills of children belonging to the lowest wealth class but had no correlation with the skills of the children belonging to the highest wealth class.