Discuss which ads are effective and which are not. For younger children, parents and older siblings should be sure to explain the difference between commercials and real programming. Television programs can't show everything. Parents may want to ask their children to think about why a program jumps ahead in time and what happened in the time they missed. When a program portrays violence, it's important to talk about the consequences physical pain and recovery, for example, or grieving loved ones.
Children often have trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality.
As a result, parents sometimes will need to explain how television uses stunt people, special effects, dream sequences and animation to create fantasy. If something is unbelievable, parents might ask children to suggest how the show's creators could have done a better job. Television sometimes can create stereotypes of certain people women, racial and ethnic minorities, foreigners, etc. If a parent notices a stereotypical portrayal on TV, he or she might want to ask the children what was wrong with it. Children should be encouraged to think about people they know who prove stereotypes wrong.