Children on Screen: Images from NRK Super

Abstract

The relationship between children and media has been researched from a variety of approaches since the upsurge of mass media in modern times. This thesis is about representations of children on children‟s television in the case of programs broadcasted on NRK Super. To be precise: In the case of NRK Super, what groups are represented and are children mainly presented as ‘human beings’ or ‘human becomings’? The research is based in the theoretical framework of social constructionism and the new sociology of children.

The material consists of nine different programs; „Dyrevenn‟, „Fin Fredag‟, Klar-ferdig-gå!‟, „Manaìd TV‟, ‟Megafon‟, ‟Newton‟, ‟Pling Plong‟, „Superia‟ and ‟Superkviss‟. A common feature with all these programs, and a factor which was decisive in the sampling procedure, is the presence of real persons, and not animated characters. Two content analyses were carried out, one quantitative and one qualitative. The first were executed in order to establish which groups of people are present. The variables are age, ethnicity, (dis)ability and role. The second was performed to figure out whether children are presented as „human beings‟ or „human becomings‟. The important elements of each program in this segment are activities, settings, communication and role.

The findings show that the average appearance is that of a girl between the age of six and twelve, of Western origin, and without any visible sign of (dis) ability. Regarding age group, „older children‟ and adults are the largest categories of groups represented, while „young children‟ and teens are age groups small in numbers. Of ethnic groups, people of ethnic origin tend to appear more often than other groups. People with visible (dis)abilities are not present at all, and the main role of appearances is that of a background character. In terms of whether children are presented as „human beings‟ or „human becomings‟, there are no unified result, but it varies according to program. However, „Megafon‟ stands out as program were children are depicted as „human beings‟, while in other productions more can be done to enhance this view.