A Content Analysis of Safety Behaviors of Television Characters: Implications for Children's Safety and Injury

Examined frequency and characteristics of safety behaviors intelevision programs popular with child audiences. A sample of52 programs was coded for safety event location, demographiccharacteristics of safety models, social and physical contextsof safety events, and successful or unsuccessful outcomes ofsafety behaviors. Results indicate an overall rate of 13 safetybehaviors per hour, with over half of all safety behaviors locatedin commercial advertisements. Most safety behaviors were performedby male adult characters, had limited relevance for children,and were not associated with either positive or negative outcomes.Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for observationallearning of safety behaviors by child viewers.