RT Journal
A1 Breslin JM
T1 SOmething else is missing from research on children's television viewing and academic performance
JF Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
JO Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
YR 2006
FD January 1
VO 160
IS 1
SP 109
OP 109
DO 10.1001/archpedi.160.1.109-a
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.160.1.109-a
AB 
However, there is one other major shortcoming of these and other studies on this topic; they focus exclusively on academic performance and skills like reading comprehension and mathematics, completely ignoring the role that television programs can play in the emotional development of children. Some of my 3-year-old daughter's favorite shows and videos over the past year have been those that would not be considered “educational”—shows like the Berenstain Bears and Madeline, for example. Although these kinds of shows don’t teach academic skills, they do teach very important life lessons and opportunities to develop emotional intelligence. For example, these kinds of shows often teach children lessons about such things as empathy, fairness, kindness, honesty, sharing, safety, and so on, as well as the full range of human emotion. Even popular noneducational videos, such as Finding Nemo, introduce young children to emotions like fear, sadness, and joy. When used appropriately and combined with active parenting, these kinds of shows and movies can provide parents with endless teachable moments. In terms of future research opportunities, I would like to see some research on the link between content-specific television viewing and the cultivation of emotional intelligence.