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The Mass Media Environment of Children

Childhood as a stage in the human life cycle encompasses a period of phenomenal biological, physiological, psychological, and social growth. Between infancy and the beginning of adolescence, about age twelve, the human acquires major life skillsthe ability to walk, talk, read, care for oneself, and come to know the world around him/her. During this time, the child first encounters the major agents of socialization: the family, peers, schools, and media. This article will focus on the last of these socialization agents. In particular, it will attempt to describe the mass media environment of children up to age twelve. One cannot talk about media consumption by children without including in the discussion a notion of how children’s communicative activities vary ontogenetically. Major changes in children’s