TIC TRENDS IN COMMUNICATION 2

Dear reader EDITORIAL
This issue of Trends in Communication deals with a topic that has been a core concern of many scientist over the years, the subject of children and media. When the medium film was introduced the Catholic church expressed its concern about the effects of the content on viewers (Fylilante Cure, 1937). Since then an incredible amount of research, using different perspectives, approaches and conflicting paradigms, into the nature and sorts of effects of media on children has accumulated.

Children and media is still an important issue for discussion among parents, educators and politicians. in public debates laymen's beliefs and opinions play a dominant role, although a lot of empirical evidence is collected on the many aspects of children's media behaviour. In this issue OfTIC Van der Voort confronts parents' beliefs concerning the effects of television on children with what research has to say about the veracity of these beliefs. He summarize research results but also pays attention to the role parents can play as mediators to television viewing. Beentjes and Van der Molen look into the specific effects of media on recall, language usage and creative imagination. They offer an overview of existing research and of the results of Dutch studies in this area. Furthermore, they report on research on creative imagination. The effects of Tv stories, Tv news and verbal information differ. Van der Voort and Beentjes deal with research into the relation between watching television and academic performance, in particular reading skills. According to the review the findings are mixed. Cantor deals with fright reactions to television viewing, and coping strategies. Fright reactions are prevalent and sometimes intense. It is often difficult to mitigate such reactions. Although a certain level of fear is appropriate, fear may lead to undue stress. Cantor's study has practical implications and at the same time contributes to the body of knowledge on this subject by illustrating that cognitive and emotional development are interdependent. The fourth contribution deals with the professionals' views on the quality of television programs and their perception of standards mothers and children have for evaluating the quality of children's programmes. The final paper from Funk, Germann and Buchman deals with electronic games, and, conform the tradition of studies into the effects of new media, addresses the question of violent content, just as the Catholic church with film in Fygilante Cura. The media may differ but the questions remain the same.