Hope Jensen Leichter

Family contexts of television

Hope Jensen Leichter is the Elbenwood Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027; Durre Ahmed is Associate Professor of Communication, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan; Leoncio Barrios is Assistant Professor of Communication, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela; Jennifer Bryce is at the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon; Eric Larsen is at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027; and Laura Moe is a doctoral student in Family and Community Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027. Two power fu l educators , te levis ion and the family, come together in the home . M a n y inst i tut ions o ther than schools can be ass u m e d to educate , inc lud ing libraries, hospi tals , m u s e u m s , r e l ig ious in s t i t u t ions , families, and the media . Those work ing in any one ins t i tu t ion a n d those p l a n n i n g broader educat ional p rog rams and policies need to unde r s t and no t on ly h o w educa t ion takes place in each of these inst i tut ions, bu t also the re la t ionships a m o n g t h e m (Leichter, 1973; Leichter, 1979). Televis ion and the family p resen t par t icularly significant cases because they are so c lose ly i n t e r w o v e n . Te l ev i s ion v i e w i n g mos t often takes place in homes , w h e r e the direct or indirect educa t ion of family m e m -