Aggressive TV programs may be more than mere child’s play

Ben Wolff ’23 loves working with children and discovering the importance play has on development. But do their TV-watching habits influence how they play? On this episode of Challenge. Change., Wolff shares how he’s exploring this avenue in his research project.

The psychology major and education minor is looking for links between the shows kids watch on television and what happens when they play. He started by surveying caregivers about what they observe when their children play and whether they believe play is essential to development. He’s also studied roughly 30 shows, using a coding system to log signs of aggression in the episodes. Next, he’ll invite children to a controlled setting, where they’ll watch TV and then get a chance to play in a group.

“I find that it’s really important to understand how the different content kids are seeing in television shows affects their behavior and affects how they’re playing,” says Wolff. “In general, we are seeing play become very prominent when we’re talking about child development.”

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Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson and Andrew Hart for Clark University. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts. To learn more about internships, check out Clark’s Career Connections Center.