Other modeling behavior

Television watching

Watching television programs can be either active or passive modeling. Eleven respondents said one or both parents watch television regularly. One person said, “The TV is always on when we are at home.” This activity is passive modeling.

Six parents engage in active modeling such as watching preschool shows, youth and adult cartoons, movies or other programs with their children. Watching television programs with children provides interaction such as talking and discussing what they are watching. Five respondents said their children do not see them watching television because they watch programs only after the children have gone to bed.

One parent said she did not watch television and one parent said he watches five or six hours of television daily. The other 20 respondents watched up to five hours of television per day with an average of two hours. Table 25 shows the response distribution for modeling and amount of time spent watching television.

Table 25. Parents' television watching behavior
Television watching behavior Number of
responses		 Occupation Comments
Parents watch television 11 0 n=2
A n=5
B n=1
C n=3		 My husband watches TV every night.
The TV is always on if we’re home at night.
Parents watch television with their children 6 0 n=1
B n=2
C n=2
D n=1		 We watch cartoons together occasionally.
We watch movies together on the weekend.
Children do not see parents watching television 5 0 n=2
B n=2
D n=1		 I only watch TV after the children are in bed.
They don’t see us watching TV because we watch after they are in bed.
Parents do not watch television 1 0 n=1 I don’t watch TV.
Parents watch between 0.1 and 5 hours of television per day 20 0 n=4
A n=5
B n=5
C n=4
D n=2		 I watch two hours a day.
We watch half an hour a day.
I watch about two hours of TV a day.
Parents watch more than 5 hours of television per day 1 C n=1 I watch 5 to 6 hours of TV a day. Mostly drama but also reality TV and documentaries.