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Study: Tween TV viewers get new message about value of fame

This image released by NBC shows hosts Matt Iseman, left, and Akbar Gbajabiamila on the set of "American Ninja Warrior." Young TV viewers may be getting the message that fame is less important than values like achievement and a sense of community. That's according to a new study from the University of California, Los Angeles. In examining the TV shows most popular with children ages 8 to 12, knowns as tweens, researchers found that the emphasis on fame diminished in 2017. (Elizabeth Morris/NBC via AP) (Elizabeth Morris, 2020 NBCUniversal Media, LLC)

LOS ANGELES ā€“ As a parent, Yalda Uhls found herself immersed a decade ago in TV series including ā€œHannah Montana,ā€ ā€œiCarlyā€ and ā€œVictorious,ā€ and uneasy about the message they sent to her 9-year-old daughter and other youngsters.

ā€œThey were all about these people getting famous at a very young age,ā€ Uhls said, suggesting that celebrity above all was the key to popularity and happiness. Effort wasn't part of the equation, and families were scarcely in the picture.

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When Uhls made the shift from Hollywood studio executive to academic at the University of California, Los Angeles, she looked more closely at the issue. Uhls devised a study of the values prominent in shows most popular with ā€œtweensā€ ā€” the catch-all name for youngsters age 8 to 12 ā€” over five decades starting in 1967.

Fame, it turns out, may indeed be fleeting, according to newly released research, a sequel to her previous work with colleagues at UCLA.

Being famous, which ranked No. 1 on a list of 16 values measured in the top-rated tween shows in 2007, fell to sixth in 2017, with achievement and self-acceptance in the No. 1 and 2 spots and community feeling not far behind at No. 5.

The study focused on tweens in part because they consume more TV than any other media, including gaming, and averaged between four to six hours daily depending on family income level, according to 2019 figures.

Youngsters nearing adolescence also are especially susceptible to media influence as they ā€œdream about their future by shaping their value systems,ā€ the study said. Researchers used Nielsen ratings to determine the leading tween shows, then surveyed study participants on TV characters' values.

Viewers perceived different messages depending on whether they were watching a reality series or scripted one. The previous study, released in 2011, was done on the brink of the reality TV boom and covered only scripted.

The new research found that the comedies ā€œGirl Meets Worldā€ and ā€œThe Thundermansā€ seemed to be ā€œdriving a shiftā€ away from an emphasis on fame, but competition series ā€œAmerican Ninja Warriorā€ and ā€œAmerica's Got Talentā€ continued to reflect the trend of ā€œself-focused values" as seen in 2007.

ā€œIf tweens watch, admire and identify with people who mostly care about fame and winning, these values may become even more important in our culture,ā€ the reportā€™s lead author, Agnes Varghese, said in a statement.

In earlier years, the study found that community feeling, benevolence and tradition were stressed in hit series including ā€œThe Andy Griffith Showā€ from 1967; ā€œHappy Days,ā€ 1977; ā€œGrowing Pains," 1987, and ā€œSabrina the Teenage Witchā€ in 1997.

Community ranked first in three of those years, falling once to No. 2. Then fame, which had lingered at the bottom of the list, jumped to first in 2007, with researchers attributing the shift to the embrace of social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube.

Their popularity ā€œmay have influenced content creators from the first decade of the 2000s to make fame-focused tween shows,ā€ according to the study from the Center for Scholars & Storytellers, part of UCLAā€™s psychology department.

In revisiting the subject for 2017, ā€œwe were seeing if that trend was still happening because by then social media wasnā€™t such a new thing,ā€ said Uhls, the centerā€™s founder and director. Another factor that led researchers to expect fameā€™s allure to have receded from tween shows was the backlash against the influence of social media on youngsters, she said.

Nancy Kanter, a veteran of children's programming, said it's vital to consider how a project will affect impressionable viewers as they weigh their place in the world. Kanter worked with Sesame Workshop, launched the Disney Junior channel and recently signed a production deal with Netflix.

ā€œI felt like I had to be showing kids something good, something hopeful or positiveā€ in each program, Kanter said. ā€œI donā€™t think Iā€™m alone. I think many executives and certainly many creators, whether theyā€™re writers or producers, think of that as well.... It's a giant responsibility because you realize just how much impact these shows can have.ā€

Sascha Paladino, a children's TV producer for two decades whose credits include ā€œBlue Cluesā€ and ā€œMira, Royal Detective,ā€ said he considers his work a ā€œresponsibility and a privilege."

ā€œWe're making shows that are seen by millions and millions of viewers, and we want to make sure we're putting out images that are hopefully adding something positive for the world,ā€ he said.


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