Ed School Group To Study Effects Of Ads on Children

A group of educators working under the auspices of the Harvard Graduate School of Education has been awarded a 12-month, $124,100 grant from the National Science Foundation to study existing research on the effect of television commercials on children.

Gerald S. Lesser, Bigelow Professor of Education and a member of the research group, said yesterday that the study will concentrate on reviewing existing research in the field, the potential for future research and policy issues involved in commercial programming.

"We're trying to make balanced judgments, weigh the evidence," Lesser, who also heads the board of advisers to Children's Television Workshop, the producers of Sesame Street, said.

Lesser said that the group will study important policy problems. "We want to know whether kids separate commercials from programs when Bozo the Clown and teachers on Romper Room sell products on their shows," he said. "Are they induced by premiums, like toys in cereal boxes. Do they understand disclaimers like 'batteries not included'?" he added.

The group plans to finish the report sometime next summer. Other members of the group are Scott Ward, a Harvard Business School professor; Richard Adler, an associate at the Graduate School of Education; two Wharton School of Business professors; a professor of child development at the University of Hartford.