ASSESSEMENT OF TELEVISION PROGRAMMES ON CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOURAL PATTERN IN MAKURDI METROPOLIS, BENUE STATE

The study assessed the Impact of Television Programmes on Children’s Behavioural Pattern in Makurdi Metropolis, Benue State. Cross-sectional survey research design was employed for the study. The population of this study comprised 331,949 children aged 3-12 years in Makurdi Metropolis. A total of 400 children aged 3-12 years were selected as respondents using multi-stage sampling technique. Data was collected using questionnaire. Data was analysed using frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study indicated that 64% of children aged more than 10 years watch television and they were exposed to many television programmes. The study also revealed that many 60% children in the study area prefer to watch entertaining programmes to educational or informative programmes. The study finally established that television programmes moderately impacted on the behavioural patterns of children in the study area. The study therefore, concluded that the level of children’s exposure to television programmes have influence on their behavioural patterns in Makurdi metropolis. The study therefore, recommends that parents should help children to identify and discuss characters and events of the television programmes for their understanding and interpretations.