Foreign Television Cartoon Programs and Children’s Social Behavior in Kenya

Abstract

This research study sought to establish the influence of foreign television cartoon programs on children’s social behavior in Kenya. The social behavior of Kenyan children continues to mutate as opportunities to access a variety of children themed television programs increase in this digital era. With no set limit for television viewing in Kenya, the average time of watching television for a Kenyan child will most likely increase. The research study was therefore guided by four objectives which included; i)to investigate the influence of foreign cartoon programs content on children social behavior in Kenya, ii)to determine the influence of foreign television cartoon characters on children social behavior in Kenya, iii)to analyze the influence of foreign television cartoon viewership patterns on children social behavior in Kenya and iv)to examine the moderating effects of demographic factors on foreign television cartoon programs exposure and their influence on children’s social behavior in Kenya. The study was guided by social learning theory and cultivation theory. The study population was children living and schooling in Murang’a County, Kiharu Constituency. The researcher applied purposive sampling where only private schools in Township Ward were considered for the study since this Ward has the highest electricity connectivity. The researcher targeted school going children aged 7-10 years enrolled in 5 identified private primary schools and applied simple random sampling technique to select targeted pupils from classes 3-5 who were included in the final research sample. The study applied cross-sectional research design and data was collected through questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. A quantitative sample of 343 pupils and a qualitative sample of 40 were studied. Using SPSS, quantitative data was analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics (mean, mode, cross tabulations and percentages) and inferential statistics (correlation coefficient, regression analysis, chi-square and ANOVA). Qualitative data was analyzed using emerging themes as narratives. Triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data was done. Firstly, the study concluded that television cartoon content influenced children social behavior. While age did not influence the content children preferred their gender influenced preference of violent themed content but not comedic themed cartoon content. Secondly, the study established that television cartoon characters influence children social behavior. Contribution of gender stereotypes in formation of gender related perceptions among children who also indicated that they largely related to heroic and branded cartoon characters as they tried to imitate them by trying to speak, act and dress like them while others requested to be bought cartoon themed accessories such as clothes, stationery and school bags. Thirdly, television cartoon viewership patterns influenced children social behavior. The study revealed emerging patterns of heavy television viewership tendencies as most of the children indicated to watching television cartoons for over four hours during weekends and holidays, a situation exacerbated by minimal or no parental mediation. Lastly, the study established that gender, age and class the child was in influenced their choice of cartoon content, cartoon characters and cartoon viewership tendencies. Gender influenced choice of violent themed cartoons as well as the cartoon characters that children chose to identify with. Age and class of the children mainly influenced their cartoon viewership habits with those in lower classes spending more time watching cartoons on weekdays and weekends.