On 17 September, Silvia Rusinol Romero, PhD candidate from the University of Seville, presented her research on the topic of childhood and media in conversation with Dr. Alex Saum Pascual, Professor of Contemporary Spanish Literature and New Media at UC Berkeley. This event was attended by 11 participants as part of a lecture series for junior scholars called New innovations in Spanish Studies, sponsored by the Program for Spanish Studies.
Rusiñol Romero began by situating contemporary research within a historical context. She noted that academic interest in the effects of films on children datesback nearly a century to the Payne Fund studies of the 1920s and early 1930s, which emerged from public concern about movies' impact on child behavior and development. Attention later shifted to television in the 1950s, a medium viewed as particularly powerful and potentially dangerous because, unlike films shown in public venues, television entered the home and became a daily family presence. Building on the historical review by Wartella and Reeves (1986), which covered studies from 1900 to 1960, Rusiñol Romero’s presentation focused on research from 1961 to 2024. She provided a systematic review of interdisciplinary studies addressing the impact of cinema and television on children’s audiences, highlighting key theoretical and methodological advancements over this period. The systematic review included peer-reviewed articles published in English, Spanish, Catalan, and French, focusing on children up to 12 years old and evaluating attitudinal, cognitive, or behavioral outcomes. Studies emphasizing screen time, biological or neurological effects, or media forms other than television and film were excluded. Rusiñol Romero organized the review around three thematic blocks: media effects and related concepts, childhood development, and television and film as media forms.
She identified a clear contrast between U.S. and international research trends. U.S. studies in the 20th century primarily employed experimental designs to measure direct behavioral effects, focusing heavily on themes like violence, imitation, and gender roles. This behavioral focus persisted into the 21st century. In contrast, international research adopted a more contextualized, cultural perspective, treating television as a cultural and imaginative medium. She found European studies emphasized creativity, narrative skills, and the persuasive role of advertising related to food, body image, and consumerism. Latin American research highlighted violence, African studies focused on education.
As a case study, Rusiñol Romero presented an analysis of Spanish language children’s TV program Carmen Sandiego, comparing the 1994 and 2019 versions, illustrating a shift from episodic to horizontal storytelling facilitated by streaming platforms. The 2019 version incorporates interactive elements, allowing viewers to influence the narrative and explore multiple possible outcomes. This example prompted discussion on children's autonomy in interactive media, platform design, and the impact of streaming on viewing habits.
During the Q&A session, Rusiñol Romero pointed out that streaming services promote longer episodes and continuous viewing, often without advertising breaks. This results in higher levels of engagement and changes how children interact with content. She also addressed the ephemeral nature of content on streaming services and the challenges this poses for researchers.Questions were raised regarding propaganda in children’s media during Franco-era Spain; Rusiñol Romero reported no significant findings related to this. She also acknowledged that some studies in the review were funded by private companies, highlighting potential bias concerns.
In conclusion, Rusiñol Romero highlighted the ongoing divide between U.S. research, which tends to focus on media as a behavioral stimulus, and international research, which frames media as a cultural and social phenomenon. The lecture underscored the importance of updating research approaches to account for the evolving landscape of children's media, especially the rise of streaming and interactive formats.